Failure to lead on COVID-19: what went wrong with the United States?

Schismenos, Spyros; Smith, Antoine; Stevens, Garry; Emmanouloudis, Dimitrios

doi:10.1108/ijpl-08-2020-0079

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Research focuses on the establishment of a joint structure of governance between communities and multi-party social entities [ 16 , 17 ]. In the community governance system, the core of community’s working should be the subjectivity of people’s governance [ 27 ]. The community’s self-evolution also promotes the downward shift of governance in a political system [ 28 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Intervention System: COVID-19 Control in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Zou

Wang

Deng

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The COVID-19 epidemic has caused giant influences on people’s life, and China’s communities play an important role in dealing with these major public health events (MPHEs). Community as the grassroots autonomous organization has various significant functions in intervening in MPHEs. The community intervention follows a system which directly influences the anti-epidemic effectiveness. To explore the mechanism, we devise a theoretical system for community intervention, mainly consisting of “organizational structure”, “functional performance” and “internal and external connections”. Questionnaire surveys, the chi-square test, the independent sample T-test, and principal component analysis are used to identify the characteristics of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region’s (Inner Mongolia) community intervention. Through the empirical research, it is verified that the community intervention in MPHEs is the combination of “the structural response of the organization”, “the performance of the community’s own function”, and “the establishment of internal and external connections”. The central Inner Mongolia delivers the best performance in community intervention compared to eastern Inner Mongolia and western Inner Mongolia. The urban communities commonly perform better than that in the agricultural and pastoral areas. The built system and findings could provide a guidance for future community to improve its intervention capability.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Intervention System: COVID-19 Control in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Zou

Wang

Deng

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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“…17, No. 1, research scholars pointed out that President Trump's failure to curb COVID-19 pandemic could be attributed to many factors, such as his display of maladaptive denial and concomitant power-addiction (Weidner and Nelson (2021)), the defunding of the Office of Pandemics and Emerging Threats, and the lack of coordination (Schismenos et al (2021)), “deathcare leadership in the USA lacks a human-centric approach” (Entress et al (2021)) and the crisis in leaderships at many levels of government as manifested by their inability to collaborate and coordinate to control the cases and fatalities (Sadiq et al , 2021; Glenn et al , 2021).…”

Section: Background Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The massive spreads and fatalities of COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: symptoms of leadership failure

Owoye

Onafowora

2021

IJPL

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically examine whether the massive spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA, the country with the most advanced medical technology in the world, are symptomatic of leadership failure. The authors posit that when political leaders, such as the President of the USA, in conjunction with a group of state governors and city mayors, employed conspiracy theories and disinformation to achieve their political goals, they contributed to the massive spreads and fatalities of the virus, and they also undermined the credibility of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the health-care professionals in providing the pertinent control guidelines and true scientific-based medical information.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a review of current studies that address the handling of global infectious diseases to build a better understanding of the issue of pandemics. They then employed a theoretical framework to link the massive spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic to political leaders, such as President Trump and the group of obsequious state governors and city mayors, who propagated conspiracy theories and disinformation through social media platforms to downplay the severity of the virus. The authors compared the massive spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA under President Trump to President Obama who handled H1N1, Ebola, Zika and Dengue. More importantly, the authors compared President Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic to other political leaders in advanced countries where there were no concerted efforts to spread conspiracy theories and disinformation about the health risks of COVID-19 pandemic.FindingsThe authors' theoretical analysis alluded to the fact that political leaders, such as President Trump, who are engulfed in self-deceptions, self-projections and self-aggrandizements would engage in self-promotion and avoid accountability for their missteps in handling global pandemic shocks. In contrast, political leaders in other advanced countries did not downplay the severity thus their ability to curtail the spreads and fatalities of the COVID-19 pandemic.Research limitations/implicationsThe theoretical viewpoints presented in this paper along with the derivations of the spreads–fatalities curtailment coefficients and the spread–fatality upsurge coefficients under Presidents Obama and Trump, respectively, may not be replicable. Given this plausible limitation, future research may need to provide a deep analysis of the amplifications of conspiracy theories and disinformation because they are now deeply rooted in the political economy of the USA. Furthermore, since scientists and medical professionals may not be able to forecast future epidemics or pandemics with pin-point accuracy nor predict how political leaders would disseminate health risks information associated with different pathogens, it is imperative that future research addresses the positive or adverse effects of conspiracy theories and disinformation that are now easily propagated simultaneously through different social media platforms, which are currently protected under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The multiplier effects of conspiracy theories and disinformation will continue to amplify the division about the authenticity of COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence or reemergence of other pathogens in the foreseeable future.Originality/valueThe authors derived the unique spreads-fatalities curtailment coefficients to demonstrate how President Obama used effective collaboration and coordination at all levels of government in conjunction with medical experts to curtail the spreads and fatalities associated with H1N1, Ebola, Zika and Dengue. They further derived the spreads-fatalities upsurge coefficients to highlight how President Trump contributed to the spreads and fatalities of COVID-19 pandemic through his inability to collaborate and coordinate with state governors, city mayors and different health-care agencies at the national and international levels.

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“…From the beginning of the pandemic, Australian state governments, and to a lesser extent the Commonwealth (Federal) government, responded relatively quickly to the COVID-19 threat compared to some other countries – e.g. the USA (Georgeou and Hawksley, 2020, p. 132; Schismenos et al , 2020) – and applied necessary measures (e.g. social distancing, lockdowns, closed borders, isolation of infected patients, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and “ageing well” for the older migrants and refugees in rural Australia: the case of Bhutanese elders in Albury, New South Wales

Georgeou

Schismenos

Wali

et al. 2022

QAOA

Self Cite

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to highlight the challenges and opportunities for the well-being of older migrants and refugees in rural Australia by learning from the example of the Bhutanese community in Albury, New South Wales. Design/methodology/approach This viewpoint focusses on health and aged care barriers that affect the well-being of older migrants and refugees in Australia. It also demonstrates how these can be intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings Engagement though agriculture, and a sense of “belonging” strengthen the cultural well-being of the Bhutanese older adults in Albury. However, major issues remain as health-related resources and information are lacking in rural Australia. How this group’s meaningful activities in Albury enabled collaborations to be built is shown in this working example and can provide lessons for other communities that experience similar problems of disconnection as they get older. Research limitations/implications The information regarding the Bhutanese older adults in Albury is primarily based on the authors’ personal communication with the General Secretary of the Bhutanese Australian Community Support Group in Albury Wodonga Inc. Originality/value Australia’s older population is growing rapidly, and older adults from culturally and linguistically diverse migrant and refugee backgrounds face numerous barriers such as limited linguistic, health and digital literacy. The authors describe common health and aged care issues that affect the well-being of older adults in rural Australia. They particularly emphasize those that occurred or intensified due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This novel information is now especially relevant to the health and aged care sectors in changing and diverse communities not only in Australia but also overseas.

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Failure to lead on COVID-19: what went wrong with the United States?

Cited by 10 publications

References 12 publications

Community Intervention System: COVID-19 Control in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

Community Intervention System: COVID-19 Control in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China

The massive spreads and fatalities of COVID-19 pandemic in the USA: symptoms of leadership failure

COVID-19 and “ageing well” for the older migrants and refugees in rural Australia: the case of Bhutanese elders in Albury, New South Wales

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