Browsing by Author "Huda, Nazmul"

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    Changes in Loneliness Prevalence and Its Associated Factors Among Bangladeshi Older Adults During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    (Scopus, 22-11-04) Mistry, Sabuj Kanti; Ali, A. R. M. Mehrab; Yadav, Uday Narayan; Khanam, Fouzia; Huda, Nazmul
    Aims Worldwide, loneliness is one of the most common psychological phenomena among older adults, adversely affecting their physical and mental health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to assess changes in the prevalence of loneliness in the two timeframes (first and second waves of COVID-19 in Bangladesh) and identify its correlates in pooled data. Methods This repeated cross-sectional study was conducted on two successive occasions (October 2020 and September 2021), overlapping with the first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. The survey was conducted remotely through telephone interviews among 2077 (1032 in the 2020-survey and 1045 in the 2021-survey) older Bangladeshi adults aged 60 years and above. Loneliness was measured using the 3-item UCLA Loneliness scale. The binary logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with loneliness in pooled data. Results We found a decline in the loneliness prevalence among the participants in two survey rounds (51.5% in 2021 versus 45.7% in 2020; P = 0.008), corresponding to 33% lower odds in the 2021-survey (AOR 0.67, 95% CI 0.54–0.84). Still, nearly half of the participants were found to be lonely in the latest survey. We also found that, compared to their respective counterparts, the odds of loneliness were significantly higher among the participants without a partner (AOR 1.58, 95% CI 1.20–2.08), with a monthly family income less than 5000 BDT (AOR 2.34, 95% CI 1.58–3.47), who lived alone (AOR 2.17, 95% CI 1.34–3.51), with poor memory or concentration (AOR 1.58, 95% CI 1.23–2.03), and suffering from non-communicable chronic conditions (AOR 1.55, 95% CI 1.23–1.95). Various COVID-19-related characteristics, such as concern about COVID-19 (AOR 1.28, 95% CI 0.94–1.73), overwhelm by COVID-19 (AOR 1.53, 95% CI 1.14–2.06), difficulty earning (AOR 2.00, 95% CI 1.54–2.59), and receiving routine medical care during COVID-19 (AOR 2.08, 95% CI 1.61–2.68), and perception that the participants required additional care during the pandemic (AOR 2.93, 95% CI 2.27–3.79) were also associated with significantly higher odds of loneliness. However, the odds of loneliness were significantly lower among the participants with formal schooling (AOR 0.71, 95% CI 0.57–0.89) and with a family of more than four members (AOR 0.76, 95% CI 0.60–0.96). Conclusions The current study found a decreased prevalence of loneliness among Bangladeshi older adults during the ongoing pandemic. However, the prevalence is still very high. The findings suggest the need for mental health interventions that may include improving social interactions increasing opportunities for meaningful social connections with family and community members and providing psychosocial support to the vulnerable population including older adults during the pandemic. It also suggests that policymakers and public health practitioners should emphasis providing mental health services at the peripheral level where the majority of older adults reside.
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    The Need for an ESP Course for IIUC Business Students
    (CRP, International Islamic University Chittagong, 2007-08) Sharit, Yasin; Huda, Nazmul
    This article attempts to explore the dire necessity of English for Specific Purposes course designated for the learners of business studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at flUe. With the growing awareness of the ESP practitioners, discourse community norms are playing pivotal roles in moulding the communicative demands felt on their students. To mitigate and vivify this need, developing methods and principles for examining community customs and beliefs is necessitated Despite the growing demand for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching in Bangladesh, ESP courses are still restricted to learning specific vocabulary and decipher texts. With the unceasing development in the international business dome, mucli concentration should be given to the design of ESP courses which can facilitate to groom students for upcoming professional communication. In reaction to these requirements, this article is all endeavor to urge and propose the relevam authority to initiate ESP course designing for lIue Business students at tertiary level. It first analyzes up-to-date literature and case studies associated with ESP course design When designing an ESP course, the principal concern is the investigation of learners' definite requirements. Other problems deal with setting up of practical aims and goals; assimilation oj grammatical [unctions and acquisition skills; and assessment and evaluation Although ESP circumstances deem these problems from their specific viewpoint, the projected outline for ESP curriculum improvement is claimed to be helpful to educationalists who may per/zaps run into hurdles in ESP curriculum plan