The Job Demands-Control-Support (JDCS) model has seldom been tested in palliative care settings, and occupational well-being of palliative care professionals has never before been investigated in ...Croatia. Our aim was therefore to fill that gap by testing the JDCS model among Croatian nurses providing palliative care. More specifically, we wanted to see how job demands, job control, and social support at work affect occupational well-being outcomes (i.e. job satisfaction and burnout dimensions of exhaustion and disengagement from work) in terms of the model’s iso-strain and buffer hypotheses. This cross-sectional study included 68 nurses working in various palliative care institutions across Croatia, who answered our online questionnaire. Overall, the nurses did not report high levels of burnout or low job satisfaction. The only significant effect was that of job control on job satisfaction (β=0.38; P<0.01) and disengagement (β=-0.45; P<0.01), while job demands and social support at work had a significant interaction effect on the burnout dimension of exhaustion (β=0.39; P<0.01) in the sense that high social support at work buffered the increase in exhaustion associated with high job demands. These findings suggest that interventions aimed at increasing perceived job control and social support at the workplace could improve occupational well-being of nurses working in palliative care.
Scientific journals represent the most important tool of communication between scientists. The key factor for the evaluation of scientists is their scientific productivity. In order for their ...scientific work to be positively evaluated, it is necessary for scientists to publish a considerable number of papers in journals indexed in relevant commercial databases (of which the most important are the Web of Science Core Collection and Scopus). What also matters is that the published articles are highly cited. This preoccupation with numbers has changed the publishing culture and today, scientists are more preoccupied with how much and where they publish than with what they publish. The result is a significant increase in the number of journals and published papers, but this increase does not necessarily lead to the growth of science itself. Publishing pressure is often cited as a reason for scientific misconduct. This paper explores some of the biggest challenges in academia today: transparency and impartiality of the peer review process, publication of papers in predatory journals, growth of co-authorship, prolific authors, ghost writers and honorary writers. The paper will explore these challenges in the context of the Croatian Scientific Activity and Higher Education Act and the Ordinance on Academic Promotion and Advancement Requirements and Proceedings.
Lay concepts of successful ageing have attracted the attention of researchers over the past 15 years. However, little is known about how older people in Southeastern European countries understand ...successful ageing and the factors associated with it. Therefore, the aim of this qualitative study conducted in Croatia, a Southeastern European country, was to explore Croatian older people’s definitions of successful ageing and the contributing factors. Interviews were conducted with 95 community-dwelling older men (49.5% of the sample) and women (50.5%) aged 65 to 90 years. Participants answered questions about definitions and contributing factors/determinants of successful ageing. Responses were subjected to thematic analysis. Results showed that participants gave similar responses to questions about the components and determinants of successful ageing. The most frequently mentioned components of successful ageing were the physical/physiological (with subthemes of general health, healthy habits, and physical mobility), the psychological component (with subthemes of good life, subjective well-being, and psychological resources, etc.), and the engagement and activity component. Among factors that contribute to successful ageing, social and physical were mentioned most frequently, followed by psychological, financial factors, and engagement/activity. Longevity and good genes were rarely cited as factors associated with successful ageing. Besides, Croatian older people have not mentioned spirituality or religiosity as important components or determinants of successful ageing. The results of our study are mostly consistent with the findings of previous research on successful ageing in predominantly Western cultures. They show the great heterogeneity of lay conceptions, which are much broader and more complex compared to researchers’ models of successful ageing.
Laičke koncepcije uspješnoga starenja posljednjih 15-ak godina privlače pažnju istraživača. Ipak, malo se zna o tome kako starije osobe u zemljama jugoistočne Europe vide uspješno starenje i čimbenike koji su s njime povezani. Stoga je cilj ove kvalitativne studije provedene u Hrvatskoj, kao zemlji jugoistočne Europe, bio ispitati kako starije osobe u Hrvatskoj definiraju uspješno starenje i čimbenike koji mu doprinose. Intervjuirano je 95 starijih muškaraca (49.5 % uzorka) i žena (50.5 %) u dobi od 65 do 90 godina koji većinom žive u vlastitim domovima. Sudionici su odgovarali na pitanja o definicijama i čimbenicima doprinosa / odrednicama uspješnoga starenja. Odgovori su podvrgnuti tematskoj analizi. Rezultati su pokazali da su sudionici davali slične odgovore na pitanja o komponentama i odrednicama uspješnoga starenja. Najčešće su spominjane komponente uspješnoga starenja bile tjelesna/fiziološka (s podtemama općega zdravlja, zdravih navika i tjelesne pokretljivosti), psihološka komponenta (s podtemama dobroga života, subjektivne dobrobiti, psiholoških resursa itd.) i komponenta angažmana i aktivnosti. Među faktorima koji doprinose uspješnomu starenju najčešće su spominjani oni socijalni i tjelesni, a nakon njih psihološki i financijski te angažman/aktivnost. Dugovječnost i dobri geni rijetko su spominjani kao faktori povezani s uspješnim starenjem. Usto, intervjuirane starije osobe nisu navodile duhovnost ili religioznost kao važne komponente ili odrednice uspješnoga starenja. Rezultati provedenoga istraživanja uglavnom su u skladu s nalazima ranijih istraživanja uspješnoga starenja koja su većinom provedena u zemljama Zapada. Oni pokazuju veliku raznolikost laičkih koncepcija koje su mnogo šire i složenije u odnosu na istraživačke modele uspješnoga starenja.
Istrazivanja mogucih determinanti uspjesnoga starenja sve su brojnija--kako zbog porasta udjela starih osoba u opcoj populaciji, tako i zbog vaznih prakticnih implikacija koje ona imaju. Ipak, jos ...uvijek nije dovoljno razjasnjena uloga raznih psihosocijalnih faktora u procesu uspjesnoga starenja. Osnovni je cilj rada bio ispitati doprinos skupine psihosocijalnih cimbenika (optimizam, otpornost, generativnost, prilagodba na starenje, socijalna podrska i socijalni kontakti) uspjesnom starenju. Za operacionalizaciju koncepta uspjesnoga starenja uzet je dvofaktorski model Pruchna i suradnika (2010) koji ukljucuje subjektivnu i objektivnu komponentu uspjesnoga starenja. Podaci istrazivanja prikupljeni su na uzorku od 790 starijih i starih osoba obaju spolova od 65 do 98 godina. Rezultati hijerarhijskih regresijskih analiza pokazuju da su najbolji prediktori subjektivnih i objektivnih pokazatelja uspjesnoga starenja dob te psiholoske osobine i resursi (optimizam, otpornost i dobra prilagodba na promjene u procesu starenja). Primijenjenu vrijednost ovih rezultata nalazimo u identifikaciji cimbenika koji pridonose uspjesnom starenju i kvaliteti zivota osoba starije dobi. Kljucne rijeci: uspjesno starenje, optimizam, otpornost, prilagodba na starenje, socijalna podrska
This study examines the interrelations of three different aspects of the subjective age: felt, desired and expected, as well as their relations with the chronological age (CA), health, and ...psychological well-being variables. Four hundred and twenty-three community-dwelling Croatian adults, aged 60–95 years, participated in the study. All three subjective age measures significantly correlated with the CA. Self-rated health were better predictors of the subjective age compared to the psychological variables. Among psychological variables, successful aging was the only significant predictor of the felt and expected age, while optimism showed to be the only significant predictor of the desired age. Results indicate the importance of some sociodemographic, psychological, and health variables for understanding older persons' subjective age identity and their desires and expectations regarding length of life. Besides the CA, it is very useful to include subjective age measures in research with elderly people.
Zadovoljstvo životom jedan je od ključnih indikatora kvalitete života te pokazatelj uspješnosti
suočavanja s različitim životnim izazovima i gubitcima u procesu starenja. Stoga je u kontekstu
...kontinuiranog porasta dužine života i udjela starijih osoba u populaciji od sve većeg značenja otkrivanje
ključnih determinanti njihovog zadovoljstva životom, posebno onih koje su podložne intervencijama.
Cilj ovoga istraživanja bio je ispitati koliki je doprinos različitih skupina potencijalnih
prediktora (sociodemografski, zdravstveni, funkcionalni, psihološki i socijalni) objašnjenju individualnih
razlika u zadovoljstvu životom starijih osoba. Istraživanje je provedeno na prigodnom
izvaninstitucionalnom uzorku od 790 starijih osoba u dobi od 65 do 98 godina (M = 73,97 godina,
SD = 6,58) iz različitih krajeva Hrvatske, od čega 460 žena (58,23 %). Upitnici koji su uključivali
instrumente za ispitivanje ključnih konstrukata primjenjivani su individualno. Rezultati regresijskih
analiza pokazali su da su među ispitanim potencijalnim prediktorima značajan doprinos
objašnjenju zadovoljstva životom imali percipirani financijski status, funkcionalna sposobnost,
mentalno zdravlje, optimizam, otpornost i socijalna podrška. Pritom su se najboljim prediktorima
zadovoljstva životom ispitanih starijih osoba pokazali mentalno zdravlje i percipirani financijski
status. Javne politike, javnozdravstveni programi i psihosocijalne intervencije trebali bi se usmjeriti
na ove i druge čimbenike koji olakšavaju prilagodbu starijim osobama te doprinose njihovom
zadovoljstvu životom.
There are numerous risk/protective factors for developing mental disorders in older people. This study examined the contribution of lifestyle (physical activity, sedentary behavior, smoking habits, ...and alcohol consumption) and psychosocial resources (optimism, resilience, social support, and frequency of social contacts) to older people’s mental health. We conducted the study on a community-dwelling sample of 780 persons (58% women) aged 65–98 from different geographical regions of the Republic of Croatia. We administered the questionnaires, including relevant instruments, individually. We found no differences in mental health regarding smoking habits. On the other hand, individuals who consumed alcohol had better mental health than those who did not drink alcohol, primarily because of gender differences in alcohol consumption and mental health. Physical activity was significantly positively associated with mental health. The regression analysis results showed that psychological resources (optimism and resilience) were significantly better predictors of mental health than lifestyle factors and social resources. The study’s results emphasize the importance of psychological resources as protective factors for older people’s mental health.
Purpose Stressful and demanding clinical situations may contribute to job dissatisfaction and may even contribute to an intention to leave the job among palliative care (PC) clinicians. Personal and ...organizational factors may influence the occupational well-being of PC clinicians as well. This study aimed to determine the predictive contribution of personal (communication skills, resilience, religiosity) and organizational (coworkers’ social support, job control) factors in the explanation of PC clinicians job (dis)satisfaction and their intention to leave their job. Methods The study was conducted on a convenience sample of 122 PC clinicians of different disciplines (nurses/technicians, physicians, psychologists, spiritual counsellors/priests, social workers, physical therapists, etc). The sample mainly consisted of nurses (57%). Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses of the results obtained were applied. Results This study indicates that 53% of PC clinicians are satisfied with their daily job and 76% do not intend to leave the job. The results showed no differences in job satisfaction and intention to leave between nurses/technicians and other PC clinicians. A significant negative correlation was found between job satisfaction and intention to leave the job. Communication skills, religiosity and coworkers’ social support, showed as significant predictors of job satisfaction. PC clinicians’ perception of their own difficulties in communicating bad news contributed significantly to job satisfaction and intention to leave the job in palliative care. Conclusion This study suggests that job satisfaction in a palliative care setting is determined by a larger number of personal and organizational factors than the intention to leave the job. Communication skills showed indispensable for providing quality care for dying patients. Skills in communicating bad news to dying patients and their families have emerged as particularly important for PC clinicians’ occupational well-being.
It needs to be stressed that the opponents of compulsory vaccination programmes for children, which are nowadays preferred by many states, are not unanimous in their arguments against such policies. ...Since its very beginnings, this preventive medical measure has, among other things, induced 'scientific objections' to its effectiveness and safety, conscientious objections (of religious and philosophical origin) and objections to restrictions imposed by the state with respect to human freedoms and bodily integrity. The purpose of this paper is to provide a critical overview of ethical and legal issues related to compulsory vaccination. For some time now scientific circles have been preoccupied with the issue if the benefits of compulsory vaccination can prevail over all the problems caused thereby. The paper is also aimed at setting a limit on the state interference with personal autonomy and parental freedoms. This issue have broader political and social repercussions which are reflected in legislative and judicial discussions. In addition, special light is shed on the reasons behind the Ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia of 30 January 2014 dismissing the application for initiation of the procedure for assessment of compliance of particular provisions of the Act on the Protection of the Population against Communicable Diseases with the Constitution.
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