The study analyses the importance of the protected designation of origin (PDO) as a selection criterion in purchases of traditional food products in a consumer's daily life, the awareness of products ...with a PDO label, and determinants of use of the PDO label for purchasing PDO-labelled products. A survey questionnaire was distributed by regular mail to a representative sample of Slovenian consumers. The survey results show that the presence of a PDO label on a food package is not too important for respondents. Slovenian consumers tend to pay greater attention to the taste of the product, its positive impact on their health, and the ingredients. There is low awareness of PDO-labelled products, which may be explained by the fact that Slovenia has a weak tradition in using geographical indications. Among consumers who were aware of products with a PDO label, their interests and quality perceptions played a significant role in shaping their use of the PDO label. The study demonstrated a direct relationship between the belief the PDO signals a better-quality product and use of the PDO label.
Highlights
A PDO label is not too important to Slovenian consumers.
There is poor awareness of the PDO label.
It is worth investing in PDO labels.
Previous studies rather neglected the issue of how nurses are satisfied with the usage of communication channels by their managers. This paper aims to discover how nurses in Croatia and Slovenia are ...satisfied with their managers’ usage of communication channels, and also how this satisfaction is associated with the employee-organisation relationship. A selfadministrated electronic questionnaire was conducted with 272 nurses in Croatia and Slovenia. The study results show that top nurse managers most commonly use mediated communication channels, while middle and executive nurse managers use more interpersonal communication channels. Employees are most satisfied when top nurse managers use emails, middle nurse managers face-to-face communication, emails and phone calls, and executive nurse managers face-to-face communication, emails, phone calls, instant messaging and internal social networks to communicate with them. Younger employees are significantly more satisfied with nurse managers’ use of new communication and information technologies. The study also shows that satisfaction with interpersonal communication used by the executive nurse managers is positively associated with employee-organization relationships and satisfaction with middle and top managers’ utilization of email in that relationship.
Background:
The mental health od school-age children is of growing concern in many countries. School professionals require the competences and methods to intervene effectively to promote mental ...health in schools.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to describe school professionals’ perceptions of the competences needed and effective methods to promote mental health in primary schools.
Design and setting:
Qualitative study conducted in five European countries.
Method:
Multidisciplinary focus group interviews were conducted with teachers, school nurses, psychologists and social workers in Greece (n = 2), Lithuania (n = 3), Slovenia (n = 2), Bulgaria (n = 2) and Finland (n = 2). Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis.
Results:
Competences perceived as required for mental health promotion in primary schools were related to (1) knowledge of child development and mental health among primary school age children, (2) skills such as communication and empathy and (3) teachers’ self perception as health promoters. Insufficient attention is currently given to the development of these competences in basic teacher education and ongoing professional development. Providing a safe and inclusive school environment for children and families, early intervention and the use of structured models of support were viewed as effective approaches to use. Digital tools, online materials, and online support were seen as having a valuable role to play in children’s mental health promotion.
Conclusion:
School professionals require multiple competences to undertake mental health promotion in primary schools. The development of these competences is best supported by basic and ongoing education. Teachers, school nurses, psychologists and social workers see mixed methods as likely to be most effective in promoting mental health in primary schools.
Background: With the successful development and introduction of vaccines to protect against COVID-19 disease, the pandemic is expected to end. The success of a vaccination programme depends on the ...uptake rates in the Slovenian population and especially among healthcare workers (HCWs), who are at higher risk of infection. Recently, several studies have examined the readiness of different population groups worldwide to be vaccinated. This study compares COVID-19 vaccination intentions between lay people and HCWs, and relationships between socio-demographic characteristics, attitudes and beliefs about COVID-19 vaccination, and vaccination intentions reported in the early stages of epidemics.
Methods: A cross-sectional study based on an online survey was performed in Slovenia between 13 and 14 March 2020, when the epidemic was officially announced in the country. Data from 2,494 eligible respondents were analysed.
Results: The study has shown that 33.2% of all respondents expressed the intention to get vaccinated against COVID-19 disease. This intention was expressed slightly more frequently among HCWs (38.9%) than among lay respondents (30.3%). Men compared to women, older and younger HCWs compared to middle-aged adults, and university graduates compared to HCWs with lower levels of education were more likely to get vaccinated against the disease. More HCWs than lay respondents believed that the COVID-19 vaccine would be safe and effective, and they were also more in favour to support vaccination of high-risk groups than mandatory vaccination of the general population.
Conclusion: It is critical to communicate the importance of vaccination against COVID-19 appropriately and on a sound scientific basis through various health education programmes and the media, as only one-third of respondents and less than a half of HCWs indicated that they would be willing to get vaccinated once a vaccine is available.
Aim: The aim of the study is to identify nurse managers’ competencies in Slovenia regarding various healthcare organisations, public and private healthcare sectors, and management levels, as well as ...the reasons for their differences. Design: The study was based on quantitative and qualitative research. Methods: An online survey was conducted among 297 nurse managers in Slovenia, and in-depth interviews with 12 nurse managers were carried out. Results: Managers who worked in nursing homes were significantly more likely to perceive themselves as being more competent in leadership (p = 0.001) and financial management (p = 0.004) than their colleagues. Managers who had higher management positions were significantly more likely to perceive themselves as being more competent in financial management than their colleagues in lower management positions (p = 0.002). Nurse managers in the private sector perceived themselves to be significantly more competent in financial management (p = 0.0001). The reasons for nurse managers’ differences in proficiency levels are the degree of job security, and degree of autonomy and support in the healthcare team. Conclusion: The study identified inadequate nurse manager competencies, and reflected the needs of nurse managers for designing and providing health management programmes aimed at enhancing management capacity in the health sector in Slovenia. Keywords: management, competencies, skills, nurse managers, Slovenia, in-depth interviews, healthcare organisations, management level.
Staff turnover in long-term care (LTC) is considered one of the main causes of staff shortages and a key problem for LTC systems in the developed world. Factors affecting staff turnover in LTC ...facilities are poorly understood due to a fragmented approach. The aim of this study was to use multivariate analysis to identify the factors at the macro-, meso-, and micro-level that influence LTC workers’ turnover in Slovenia, a typical Central and Eastern European country. A correlational cross-sectional survey design with a self-reported online questionnaire was used among Slovenian LTC workers (N = 452). The results show that more than half of LTC workers intend to quit their jobs and leave the LTC sector. LTC workers who intend to leave are generally younger, have worked in the LTC sector for a shorter period, are mainly employed in the public sector, especially in nursing homes, and earn less. The connection between the intention to leave and the factors at the macro-, meso-, and micro-level is very high. Over 75% of the variance of intention to leave was explained by the linear influence of sociodemographic characteristics, social recognition, and work environment. Urgent measures for improving the work environment are needed.
In this article, we apply discourse analysis to the European Commission's Communications on reforms of the European Union's Common agricultural policy (CAP). The results of the historical discourse ...analysis of the European Commission’s strategy documents in the form of Communications on the CAP from 1991 to 2017 showed that the discourse was a hybrid, modified according to the specific political economic context and the European Commission’s need to justify the CAP reforms. In the first two Communications of 1991 and 1997, the neomercantilist and neoliberal discourses dominated to justify the reduction of market price support. In the Communications of the 2000s the neoliberal and multifunctionality discourse dominated to justify further CAP reforms based on decoupling and liberalisation of support. In the last Communication from 2017 the multifunctionality discourse in populist form prevailed to find the new societal argumentation for maintaining the policy.
BACKGROUND: Integrated clinical pathways (ICPs), which have particularly enhanced existing clinical pathways (CPs) through the work of multifunctional teams, have become an important tool to enable ...informed decision-making and provide more efficient, cost-effective, and value-based care.
AIM: In the absence of studies on the cost-effectiveness of ICPs, the aim of this study was to determine the opinion of team members treating patients with total hip arthroplasty and their patients on the practice of cost-effectiveness of the existing CP and ICP that might be introduced in the future.
METHODS: A mixed descriptive quantitative and qualitative approach was used. A survey of 61 team members of CP for total hip arthroplasty was conducted, as well as in-depth interviews (n = 12) and focus groups (n = 11). In addition, in-depth interviews were performed with 20 patients who had undergone total hip arthroplasty at CP in a typical Slovenian general hospital.
RESULTS: The results showed that participants occasionally prioritized cost-effectiveness over quality of health care. They frequently used CP to reduce the cost and time of patient care. Nurses with secondary education were statistically significantly more likely to prioritize cost-effectiveness of health care over quality of health care than nurses with higher education, physicians, and others. Team members and patients evaluated positively the cost-effectiveness of ICP for total hip arthroplasty, but patients also pointed out that staff, especially nurse had too little contact with patients.
CONCLUSION: Both team members treating patients with total hip arthroplasty and their patients have a positive attitude toward the cost-effectiveness of ICP. The nursing staff has too little contact with the patients due to staff shortages.
The European Union’s common agricultural policy (CAP), in addition to its primary production and farm income goals, is a large source of funding for environmentally friendly agricultural practices. ...However, its schemes have variable success and uptake across member states (MS) and regions. This study tries to explain these differences by demonstrating differences between policy levels in the understanding of the relationship between nature and farming. To compare constructs and values of the respective policy communities, their discursive construction as it appears in the main strategic EU and MS agricultural policy documents is analysed. The theoretical framework integrates elements from existing frameworks of CAP and environmental discourse analysis; specific agri-environmental discourses, their elements and interplay, are identified. The six discourses suggested here are ‘Productivism’, ‘Classical neoliberal’, ‘Ecological modernisation’, ‘Administrative’, ‘Multifunctionality’ and ‘Radical green’. The discourse analysis of selected documents reveals that there are indeed differences in how farming and the environment are generally conceptualised at different levels of CAP decision-making. At EU level, farming is primarily understood as a sector whose main task is to produce food (‘Productivism’), and the environment is used as a justification for CAP payments (‘Multifunctionality’). At the national/regional level, Rural Development Programmes reflect different value systems: in England, environmental protection is mainly seen as sound management of natural capital (‘Classical neoliberal’); in Finland, a benefit for producers and conscious consumers (‘Ecological modernisation’); in Croatia, a necessity limiting productivity (‘Productivism’) and imposed by an external authority (‘Administrative’ discourse). This diversity shows that differences can visibly manifest despite the Commission constraining the discursive space, helping to explain the differential implementation and success of environmental measures.
Abstract Aim. Hospital health care of a patient represents a part of the patient’s “journey” through the healthcare system and as such is not delivered independently, but in a personalized integrated ...manner. To achieve a better outcome of personalized medical health care of patients in hospital, it is necessary to systematically transform the existing clinical pathways (CPs) into integrated clinical pathways (ICPs). The aim of the study was to investigate stakeholder’s perceptions of the content and barriers to transforming CPs into ICPs on the example of a general hospital in Slovenia. That is how we obtained microdata for systemic measures at the level of general hospitals in Slovenia. Material and methods. The cross-sectional study used a qualitative method with interviews and focus groups with patients, nurses, other healthcare workers and managers working in ICPs for chronic kidney disease and hip replacement in a typical Slovenian hospital. Results. The results showed that ICPs could be divided into five basic phases. In all phases, additions to the existing CPs in order to turn them into ICPs were necessary, which was an additional burden, especially for the nurses. Conclusions. Personalized health care through ICPs is patient-centered, shorter, holistic, coordinated, continuous, of higher quality for patients and sustainably more efficient for providers.
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