A research conducted among the staff of the National Research Council (CNR) on the perceived medium-term effects of forced work from home (WFH) on life and profession has been published in the journal Frontiers in Public Health: The medium-term perceived impact of work from home on life and work domains of knowledge workers during COVID-19 pandemic: A survey at the National Research Council of Italy.

More than 95% of the 748 respondents report that at least one area of ​​personal life has changed, a percentage that reaches 97% for perceived changes in at least one area of ​​professional life. These are mostly positive repercussions according to the participants.

The objective of the study - conducted in early 2022 by researchers from four CNR institutes in collaboration with the University of Genoa - was to evaluate how knowledge workers experienced the changes to their working habits after 18 months since the start of the restrictive measures related to the pandemic. The survey is part of the research, launched all over the world especially during the first lockdowns, on the well-being of workers.

How smart has working from home been during the pandemic?

The research was carried out through an online questionnaire. Among other things, CNR staff were asked to rate the impact of working from home on various areas from 1 (very negative) to 5 (very positive).

With respect to personal life, the quality of interpersonal relationships in the family and the lifestyle in general (including eating habits and health) benefited the most from working from home with 60% and 58% of responses being "very positive" or "positive". However, working from home does not seem to have had an impact on the quality of sleep and friendships (48% and 55% answer "none" respectively). The most frequent negative impact (20%) is instead recorded in relation to the psychological state. (Details of the answers in figure n.1)

Professional level, ie respondents benefited from working from home in particular with respect to flexibility (organisation of personal workspace and personal workspace and working time management), initiative taking and quality of work. Three areas in which positive perceptions prevailed over both negative ones and lack of impact.

The participatory and relational aspects are those in which the perception of absence of impact prevails. At the same time, however, relationships with colleagues and participation in the work context are those that seem to have been most affected by the different working conditions and that have collected the largest number of negative responses (27% and 25%, respectively).

This perception was influenced by personal and organizational factors. In particular, the reduced number of days of face-to-face work and a longer commute time from home to work are associated with a positive perception of the impact of working from home on personal life. Even those who reduced their sedentary lifestyles rated the impact of working from home on all areas of their personal lives as positive. On the other hand, a negative perception is favored by having abandoned one's hobbies and having had to share the room used for work with other inhabitants of the house.

As the writer of the article points out, the results obtained suggest that measures to promote the physical and mental health of employees, strengthen inclusion and maintain a sense of community are needed to improve workers' health and prevent isolation perceived in research activities when recourse to working from home is envisaged, especially where work-life balance policies are lacking.

Read the full article.

Curated by Monia Torre with the scientific contribution of Pierpaolo Mincarone.

Insights from the frontline anti-violence work during the pandemic in Italy

Pietro Demurtas e Caterina Peroni have published in the Open Journal of Sociopolitical Studies “Participation and Conflict” an article entitled “We must draw a different future! Insights from the front line anti-violence work during the pandemic in Italy"

“In this article we analyze the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Italian anti-violence
system, through the eyes of the practitioners of anti-violence centers, who are historically at the forefront
in supporting women survivors of male violence. Their perspective is particularly relevant because, in Italy,
anti-violence centers hold a “borderline” position, which lies between the political role of transformation and
that of an actor of the private social provider of an 'essential' public service. On the basis of international
recommendations, our analysis distinguishes two main areas of intervention on which national policies have
been called to intervene: on one side, the protection of women victims of violence, and on the other their
empowerment. Analyzing either official statistics and data collected through an online survey addressed to
the practitioners of anti-violence centers during the lockdown, we highlight strengths and weaknesses of
the policy measures implemented in Italy from their situated perspective, with reference both to the
protection and the empowerment of survivors.”

The article is published in mode Open, freely available and downloadable

Simone Alliva of the magazine L'Espresso interviewed Corrado Bonifazi a proposal of the demographic crisis that characterizes our country.

A myth to dispel

Antonio Tintori e Loredana Cerbara published an article titled "The paradoxical relationship between sport, education and social integration. A myth to dispel“, on no. 4 of the magazine Gnosis, Italian intelligence magazine, Year XXVIII.

With Daniele Archibugi live on Slams to talk about the Tips, tricks and spells for apprentice scholars together with Julia Bonelli e Andrew Capocci.

Attention is growing on treatments dedicated to abusive men, because in the absence of intervention, 85% of abusive men return to commit violence against women. Intervention by Pietro Demurtas CNR-IRPPS- VIVA project on The Sun 24 HOURS.