Background: Recently, a novel coronavirus has caused global health concerns. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, house quarantine was considered to prevent the outbreak of the disease and ensure physical health, but it may cause serious mental health problems. The present study aims to assess housing satisfaction, housing preference of residents, and their mental health in house quarantine of COVID-19 considering housing type, spaces, environmental factors, and function and activities.Methods: Quantitative data were gathered through administering online questionnaires. In April 2020, 421 valid responses were gathered from people who were living in Tehran. Then the collected data were analyzed using SPSS.Results: According to the result, environmental factors have a higher mean than spaces and functions and activities throughout housing preference. Satisfaction with all parameters affects improving mental health. The kitchen, view quality, exercise, and cultivation and maintenance of plants have the greatest impact on improving mental health among house spaces, environmental factors, activities, and functions, respectively. The mental health of people living in private houses is better than residents of low-rise and high-rise housing.Conclusions: Residents' opinions about the houses showed that there are differences between the current situation of the house and the preferences of the people during the house quarantine period, which has been effective in the mental health of the residents in this period. Consideration of parameters in housing design by architects and home planners can improve people's mental health during special and critical situations such as house quarantine due to the spread of epidemics.

Background The institutionalization of evidence-informed health policy-making (EIHP) is complex and complicated. It is complex because it has many players and is complicated because its institutionalization will require many changes that will be challenging to make. Like many other issues, strengthening EIHP needs a road map, which should consider challenges and address them through effective, harmonized and contextualized strategies. This study aims to develop a road map for enhancing EIHP in Iran based on steps of planning. Methods This study consisted of three phases: (1) identifying barriers to EIHP, (2) recognizing interventions and (3) measuring the use of evidence in Iran's health policy-making. A set of activities was established for conducting these, including foresight, systematic review and policy dialogue, to identify the current and potential barriers for the first phase. For the second phase, an evidence synthesis was performed through a scoping review, by searching the websites of benchmark institutions which had good examples of EIHP practices in order to extract and identify interventions, and through eight policy dialogues and two broad opinion polls to contextualize the list of interventions. Simultaneously, two qualitative-quantitative studies were conducted to design and use a tool for assessing EIHP in the third phase. Results We identified 97 barriers to EIHP and categorized them into three groups, including 35 barriers on the “generation of evidence” (push side), 41 on the “use of evidence” (pull side) and 21 on the “interaction between these two” (exchange side). The list of 41 interventions identified through evidence synthesis and eight policy dialogues was reduced to 32 interventions after two expert opinion polling rounds. These interventions were classified into four main strategies for strengthening (1) the education and training system (6 interventions), (2) the incentives programmes (7 interventions), (3) the structure of policy support organizations (4 interventions) and (4) the enabling processes to support EIHP (15 interventions). Conclusion The policy options developed in the study provide a comprehensive framework to chart a path for strengthening the country’s EIHP considering both global practices and the context of Iran. It is recommended that operational plans be prepared for road map interventions, and the necessary resources provided for their implementation. The implementation of the road map will require attention to the principles of good governance, with a focus on transparency and accountability.

Background. There are limited studies on food security, physical activity, and social capital in the Iranian population. This study aimed to evaluate the social capital’s associations with physical inactivity and food insecurity in a large-scale study in Iran, Urban HEART-2. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 22 districts of Tehran, the capital of Iran. Residents of Tehran who were 15 years or older were selected by a multi-stage, stratified, and random sampling method. Food insecurity and physical activity were evaluated using Household Food Security Scale and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire, respectively, and their associations with social capital were evaluated. Results. A total of 5030 individuals were included in this study, with 3139 (62.4%) males. The mean age of participants was 44.08 years (SD = 16.33, range = 15–90). Participation in social events (OR = 0.893, 95% CI = 0.819–0.974, P  = 0.011), social network (OR = 0.849, 95% CI = 0.786, P  < 0.001), and voluntary activities (OR = 0.865, 95% CI = 0.812–0.921, P  < 0.001) were all negatively associated with food insecurity. Also, voluntary activities (OR = 0.823, 95% CI = 0.776–0.872, P  < 0.001) and participation in the associations activities (OR = 0.665, 95% CI = 0.582–0.759, P  < 0.001) were negatively associated with physical inactivity. Conclusion. The prevalence of food insecurity and physical inactivity is relatively high among Tehran residents. As a factor affecting the physical activity and food security, social capital can be targeted in interventions to improve physical activity and food security among Iranians.

Background: Recently, a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused global health concerns. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, house quarantine was considered to prevent the outbreak of the disease and ensure physical health, but it may cause serious mental health problems. The present study aims to assess housing satisfaction, housing preference of residents, and their mental health in house quarantine of COVID-19 considering housing type, spaces, environmental factors, and function and activities. Methods: Quantitative data were gathered through administering online questionnaires. In April 2020, 421 valid responses were gathered from people who were living in Tehran. Then the collected data were analyzed using SPSS. Results: According to the result, environmental factors have a higher mean than spaces and functions and activities throughout housing preference. Satisfaction with all parameters affects improving mental health. The kitchen, view quality, exercise, and cultivation and maintenance of plants have the greatest impact on improving mental health among house spaces, environmental factors, activities, and functions, respectively. The mental health of people living in private houses is better than residents of low-rise and high-rise housing.Conclusions: Residents’ opinions about the houses showed that there are differences between the current situation of the house and the preferences of the people during the house quarantine period, which has been effective in the mental health of the residents in this period. Consideration of parameters in housing design by architects and home planners can improve people's mental health during special and critical situations such as house quarantine due to the spread of epidemics.