Social diversity can affect healthcare outcomes in situations when access to healthcare is limited for specific groups. Although the principle of equality is one of the central topics on the agenda ...of the European Union (EU), its scope in the field of healthcare, however, is relatively unexplored. The aim of this study is to identify and systematically analyze primary and secondary legislation of the EU Institutions that concern the issue of access to healthcare for various minority groups. In our research, we have concentrated on three features of diversity: a) gender identity and sexual orientation, b) race and ethnicity, and c) religion or belief.
For the purpose of this analysis, we conducted a search of database Eur-Lex, the official website of European Union law and other public documents of the European Union, based on specific keywords accompanied by review of secondary literature. Relevant documents were examined with regard to the research topic. Our search covered documents that were in force between 13 December 2007 and 31 July 2019.
Generally, the EU legal system prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion or belief, racial or ethnic origin, sex, and sexual orientation. However, with regard to the issue of non-discrimination in access to healthcare EU secondary law provides protection against discrimination only on the grounds of racial or ethnic origin and sex. The issue of discrimination in healthcare on the grounds of religion or belief, gender identity and sexual orientation is not specifically addressed under EU secondary law.
The absence of regulations regarding non-discrimination in the EU secondary law in the area of healthcare may result from the division of competences between the European Union and the Member States. Reluctance of the Member States to adopt comprehensive antidiscrimination regulations leads to a situation, in which protection in access to healthcare primarily depends on national regulations.
Our study shows that EU antidiscriminatory law with regard to access to healthcare is fragmentary. Prohibition of discrimination of the level of European binding law does not fully encompass all aspects of social diversity.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The aim of the study was a comparative analysis of legislative measures against discrimination in healthcare on the grounds of a) race and ethnicity, b) religion and belief, and c) gender identity ...and sexual orientation in Croatia, Germany, Poland and Slovenia.
We conducted a search for documents in national legal databases and reviewed legal commentaries, scientific literature and official reports of equality bodies. We integrated a comparative method with text analysis and the critical interpretive approach. The documents were examined in their original languages: Croatian, German, Polish, and Slovenian.
All examined states prohibit discrimination and guarantee the right to healthcare on the constitutional level. However, there are significant differences among them on the statutory level, regarding both anti-discriminatory legal measures and other legislation affecting access to healthcare for groups of diverse race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity. Croatia and Slovenia show the most comprehensive legislation concerning non-discrimination in healthcare in comparison to Germany and even more Poland. Except for Slovenia, explicit provisions protecting equal access for members of the abovementioned groups are insufficiently represented in healthcare legislation.
The study identified legislative barriers to access to healthcare for persons of diverse race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or gender identity in Croatia, Germany, Poland and Slovenia. The discrepancies in the level of implementation of anti-discriminatory measures among these states show that there is a need for comprehensive EU-wide regulations, which would implement the principle of equal treatment in the specific context of healthcare. General anti-discrimination regulations should be strengthened by inclusion of anti-discrimination provisions directly into national legislation relating specifically to the area of healthcare.
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CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The article provides an overview of the legal regulation of the right to health and medical procedures in Slovenia for people of diverse sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions, or sex ...characteristics. It also presents hospital practices and the perceived relationship between patients and medical staff. Three objectives are pursued: to provide a comprehensive overview of Slovenian gender and sexual orientation legislation and hospital policies; to investigate how legal norms and hospital policies are implemented in clinical practice; and to highlight the ethical challenges perceived by healthcare workers and patients as a result of social diversity. Several types of data were reviewed: relevant legislation, internal documents from Slovenian general hospitals, documents from the Advocate of the Principles of Equality and the Human Rights Ombudsman, medical literature, and literature from non-governmental organizations. The reviewed and analyzed data indicate that some hospital staff lack the necessary skills to work with vulnerable groups, despite the fact that discrimination is prohibited by law and that cultural competency training is occasionallyprovided to healthcare professionals.
U radu se predstavlja pregled zakonodavstva o pravu na zdravstvene postupke za osobe različitih seksualnih orijentacija, rodnih identiteta/ekspresije ili seksualnih karakteristika u Sloveniji. Navode se i bolničke prakse i percipirani odnos između pacijenata i medicinskog osoblja. Rad ima tri cilja: pružiti sveobuhvatan pregled slovenskog zakonodavstva o rodu i seksualnoj orijentaciji te bolničkih politika; istražiti kako se pravne norme i bolničke politike provode u kliničkoj praksi; prepoznati etičke izazove koje percipiraju zdravstveni radnici i pacijenti kao posljedicu društvene raznolikosti. Analizirano je nekoliko vrsta podataka: relevantno zakonodavstvo, interni dokumenti općih bolnica u Sloveniji, dokumenti zagovornika načela jednakosti i pučkog pravobranitelja za ljudska prava, medicinska literatura i literatura iz nevladinih organizacija. Pregledani i analizirani podaci ukazuju na to da dio bolničkog osoblja ne posjeduje vještine potrebne za rad s ranjivim skupinama, unatoč činjenici da je diskriminacija zakonom zabranjena i da se zdravstvenim djelatnicima povremeno pruža obuka u području kulturne kompetencije.
During the Coronavirus epidemic in Slovenia (March 2020 to June 2021) and during the period of global public health emergency due to COVID-19 (January 2020 to May 2023), public discourse about ...physicians in the Slovenian media and on social media fluctuated between extremes ranging from idolisation, hero worship and contempt to verbal and physical threats. These diametrically different images of doctors coincided with the measures taken in the country to contain the epidemic and the consequences for the lives of people who suddenly lost their livelihoods and sense of freedom. The discourse observed in comments under media reports and on social media about physicians between January 2020 and May 2023 shows that the entire burden of staff shortages and otherwise poorly organised healthcare fell on medical personnel, who had to deal with long queues, exhaustion and escalated verbal and physical aggression. The depriving of the right to treatment for anyone within a reasonable period of time, which loomed over the entire healthcare system due to the Coronavirus, together with the circulation of different conspiracy theories, caused intense anger, vulgar insults and comparisons of all kinds, physical harassment and death threats against individual physicians, as well as an unjustifiably growing distrust of medicine in general. This article analyses the hostile and abusive online communications that, in real life, were unleashed in occasional physical attacks and other forms of violence against medical personnel in Slovenia. It highlights the complicated interplay between medicine and the social and cultural context during the COVID-19 pandemic and illustrates the complexity of medicine beyond biological understanding.
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Fairy tales are fascinating fantasies, but they also gave people a better understanding of serious issues such as illness, injury, and even death. The results of the analysis of a large corpus of a ...total of 1512 published fairy tales, legends, and other documentary prose about Pohorje, most of which date back to the 19th and the first half of 20th centuries, and whose origins were in a time when diseases were ubiquitous and poorly understood, show that the theme of health and disease rarely appear in these sources, however, when they do mention it, they refer specifically to the living conditions of people in the Pohorje Mountains, epidemics, social diseases, mental illnesses, congenital deformities, and ideas about the relationship between disease, the human body, and supernatural forces. One of the reasons for such explanations is the widespread absence of doctors in this hilly area.
Due to cultural, language, or legal barriers, members of social minority groups face challenges in access to healthcare. Equality of healthcare provision can be achieved through raised diversity ...awareness and diversity competency of healthcare professionals. The aim of this research was to explore the experiences and attitudes of healthcare professionals toward the issue of social diversity and equal access to healthcare in Croatia, Germany, Poland, and Slovenia.
The data reported come from semi-structured interviews with
= 39 healthcare professionals. The interviews were analyzed using the methods of content analysis and thematic analysis.
Respondents in all four countries acknowledged that socioeconomic factors and membership in a minority group have an impact on access to healthcare services, but its scope varies depending on the country. Underfunding of healthcare, language barriers, inadequate cultural training or lack of interpersonal competencies, and lack of institutional support were presented as major challenges in the provision of diversity-responsive healthcare. The majority of interviewees did not perceive direct systemic exclusion of minority groups; however, they reported cases of individual discrimination through the presence of homophobia or racism.
To improve the situation, systemic interventions are needed that encompass all levels of healthcare systems - from policies to addressing existing challenges at the healthcare facility level to improving the attitudes and skills of individual healthcare providers.
The heritage of Slovenian house names and surnames reflects, among others, the former medicine and pharmaceutical occupations, midwifery, and folk medicine practices, and besides that, also health ...status and illnesses of people. Surnames, which are especially strongly intertwined with family, local and social history, are closely related to folk medicine and magic. Unlike house names (vulgo), which are the usual nicknames for physical and mental characteristics and abilities, surnames denote medical occupations and medicinal folk practice as such. According to the most recent data (as of January 1, 2020) of The Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, at least 40 surnames reminiscent former medical or pharmaceutical professions. These newly discovered digital data in open access are precious for the history of medicine because they allow comparing surnames geographically, by frequency, and through the time.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In the fast-paced music industry, staying popular and maintaining a large, international fan base for sixty years is almost unheard of. The list of those who have achieved this goal is short ...indeed. However, this has been achieved by one of the most famed Slovene groups of all time, The Ensemble of Brothers Avsenik. Famous for the invention and popularisation of popular-national music, and also known as the Oberkrainer in German-speaking parts of Europe, their instrumental and vocal upbeat polkas, marches, nostalgic waltzes, and even tangos have sold thirty-six million albums worldwide and have been featured in more than 10,000 live shows. In 2013, the brothers Slavko Avsenik and Vilko Ovsenik celebrated sixty years of successful music production.
Blood is not solely a body part and a medicinal substance; it’s likewise a metaphor for life. Blood as a social concept has mainly been explored as a symbol of kinship, genetic heritage and lineage, ...nationalism, race, taboo, in rituals, and blood donations. Besides that, ethnic or national survival is also written on the map with bloody place-names. When the soil is soaked with blood of patriotic defenders and endangering others, the collective memory creates new bloody geographical names. They record the evidence of historically important harsh events, remind us of heroic battles, neighbouring antagonisms, or, provide an insight into religious changes in the area. The stories of violent killings and bloodshed in defence of a country, enriched with fears, imagination and prejudices towards the bloodthirsty foreign invaders, such as Turks or French, upset people’s blood. Though the base kri, blood, Blut, krvav, blutig is proportionally rare in Slovene toponymics, these geographical names describe historic episodes of groups and a nation. The tales about the origin of bloody place-names and about the horrific blood spill, which stops the blood in the veins, became a part of the nation’s cultural heritage.
The Avsenik Brothers Ensemble is by far the most successful Slovene music group performing popular-national music, having sold 36 million albums worldwide and having been featured in more than 10,000 ...live shows. Year 2013 marked the 60th anniversary of successful music-making for the brothers Slavko Avsenik and Vilko Ovsenik. Today the family music tradition is actively pursued by Slavko's son Gregor, and grandson Sašo, who continue the artistry of the Avseniks and oversee the family business built around it. The article provides a historical qualitative description of the Avseniks' career, their business model, the milestones of their success, music expansion and building of the identity of popular-national music in Slovenia.
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