Public awareness of palliative care in Sweden WESTERLUND, CAROLINE; TISHELMAN, CAROL; BENKEL, INGER ...
Scandinavian journal of public health,
06/2018, Letnik:
46, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness of palliative care (PC) in a general Swedish population. Design: We developed an e-survey based on a similar study conducted in ...Northern Ireland, consisting of 10 questions. Closed questions were primarily analyzed using descriptive statistics. Open questions were subject to inductive qualitative analysis. Subjects: The study utilized a population sample of 7684 persons aged 18–66, of which 2020 responded, stratified by gender, age and region. Results: Most participants reported ‘no’ (n = 827, 41%) or ‘some’ (n = 863, 43%) awareness of PC. Being female or older were associated with higher levels of awareness, as was a university-level education, working in a healthcare setting and having a friend or family member receiving PC. Most common sources of knowledge were the media, close friends and relatives receiving PC, as well as working in a healthcare setting. Aims of PC were most frequently identified as ‘care before death’, ‘pain relief’, ‘dignity’ and a ‘peaceful death’. The preferred place of care and death was one’s own home. The main barriers to raising awareness about PC were fear, shame and taboo, along with perceived lack of information and/or personal relevance. The term ‘palliative care’ was said to be unfamiliar by many. A number of strategies to enhance awareness and access to PC were suggested, largely reflecting the previously identified barriers. Conclusions: This survey found limited awareness of palliative care in an adult sample of the Swedish general public ≤ 66 years, and points to a more widespread disempowerment surrounding end-of-life issues.
The Senckenberg Museum of Natural History Görlitz developed an international touring exhibition with the title ‘The Thin Skin of the Earth – Our Soils’ as the national contribution to the ...International Year of the Soil 2015. Since the opening of the exhibition in October 2015 it had been shown at six localities and seen by more than 120,000 visitors. It will tour at least for another four years. The exhibition deals with soil biodiversity, the heterogeneity of soils as well as soil protection. It meets the challenge to present objects, processes, topics and formats completely unknown to most of the public by using recent most specifically developed digital and analogue formats and a sophisticated scenography. To address its main messages to the visitors, emotionalizing and immersive forms of information transfer are crucial and, therefore, central elements of the educational concept. The general concept behind the exhibition, its contents, the educational approaches applied and the major results of an external evaluation are described. Conclusions are drawn on the suitability of touring exhibitions and the approaches chosen to inform and sensitize a broad public for soil protection.
Background: The ongoing Finnish health and social service reform will expand choice by opening the market for competition between public and private service providers. This study examined the ...attitudes of primary care patients towards choice and which patient-related factors are associated with these attitudes. Methods: A sample of attenders during one week in health centres of 12 big cities and municipal consortiums (including seven outsourced local units) and in primary care units of one private company providing outsourced services for municipalities (aged 18−95, n=8128) was used. The questionnaire included questions on choice-related attitudes, sociodemographic factors, health status, use of health services and patient satisfaction. Results: Of the responders, 77% regarded choice to be important, 49% perceived genuine opportunities to make choices and 35% were satisfied with the choice-relevant information. Higher age, low education, having a chronic illness, frequent use of services, having a personal physician and being satisfied with the physician and with waiting times were related to assigning more importance on choice. Younger patients, those with higher education as well as those with chronic illness regarded their opportunities of choosing the service provider and availability of choice-relevant information poorer. Conclusions: The Finnish primary care patients value choice, but they are critical of the availability of choice-relevant information. Choices of patients with complex health care needs should be supported by developing integrated care alternatives and by increasing the availability of information on existing care alternatives to meet their needs.
Involvement that makes an impact on healthcare FREDRIKSSON, MIO; ERIKSSON, MAX; TRITTER, JONATHAN Q.
Scandinavian journal of public health,
06/2018, Letnik:
46, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Aim: ‘Participation and influence in society’ is the first of 11 objective domains in Swedish public health policy. The aim of this article is to investigate the views of the Swedish general ...population on the impact of a range of health participation activities, and whether these views were associated with sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: The study utilizes a national representative survey of the Swedish population, aged 15 years and over (n = 1500). Results: Apart from voting in regional elections – which most of the respondents believed to be an influential way to make improvements in healthcare (74%) – respondents believed more in individual patient activities than activities associated with adopting a citizen role and acting collectively. A majority of respondents believed in the impact of replying to patient surveys (67%), making a complaint (61%), talking directly to staff (58%) or changing their healthcare provider (54%). Fewer believed in the impact of joining a patient organization (46%), taking part in a citizen council (35%) or joining a political party (34%). Beliefs in impact increased with educational attainment and decreased with age. Conclusions: The results suggest people have more confidence in the impact of participating as individual patients rather than collectively and as citizens. To ensure that activities enable ‘participation and influence in society’, complementary opportunities for collective involvement that also take into account under-represented voices such as those with a low level of education need to be developed.
Aims: Direct seeking of care at paediatric emergency departments may result from an inadequate awareness or a short supply of medical alternatives. We therefore evaluated the care-seeking patterns, ...availability of medical options and initial medical assessments – with overall reference to socioeconomic status – of parents at an urban paediatric emergency department in a Scandinavian country providing free paediatric healthcare. Methods: The parents of children assessed by paediatric emergency department physicians at a Swedish university hospital over a 25-day winter period completed a questionnaire on recent medical contacts and their reasons for attendance. Additional information was obtained from ledgers, patient records and population demographics. Results: In total, 657 of 713 eligible patients (92%) were included. Seventy-nine per cent of their parents either failed to or managed to establish medical contact before the emergency department visit, whereas 21% sought care with no attempt at recent medical contact. Visits with a failed telephone or primary care contact (18%) were more common outside office hours (p=0.014) and were scored as less urgent (p=0.014). A perceived emergency was the main reason for no attempt at medical contact before the visit. Direct emergency department care-seeking was more common from the city district with the lowest socioeconomic status (p=0.027). Conclusions: Although most parents in this Swedish study tried to seek medical advice before attending a paediatric emergency department, perceived emergency, a short supply of telephone health line or primary care facilities and lower socioeconomic status contributed to direct care-seeking by almost 40% of parents. Pre-hospital awareness and the availability of medical alternatives with an emphasis on major differences in socioeconomic status should therefore be considered to further optimize care-seeking in paediatric emergency departments.
This research aims to consider science communication knowledge possessed by a scientist who carries out outreach activities in a natural history museum. There is little research to date about the ...contents of an outreach activity performed by scientists and their science communication knowledge when facing the public. Thus, this research focused on a scientist in the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo, and clarified the contents of an outreach activity and the science communication knowledge possessed by the scientist. Concerning the method of research, one of the authors conducted an interview of the scientist and also engaged in participating observation over five months. As a result, this case study showed the following, when communications skills and coordination skills were made into a framework. 1) The scientist has communication skills for responding flexibly to citizens without pursuing scientific correctness and using jargon, and also has the skill to encourage the public to improve their knowledge in a particular area. 2) The scientist has coordination skills to connect citizens with other citizens, citizens and scientists, and citizens and society. Furthermore, it was found the scientist had demonstration skills for communicating science communication knowledge intelligibly with citizens.
12 December is observed as the Global Day Against Child Trafficking (GDCT) in six regions across the world by partners in the International Campaign against Child Trafficking (ICaCT). The India ...Campaign Against Child Trafficking (CACT), which is part of ICaCT, also undertakes a series of public awareness and advocacy initiatives in various parts of the country this day, seeking urgent attention on the issue.
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