Although subjective expressions and linguistic fluency have been shown as important factors in processing and interpreting textual facts, analyses of these traits in textual health information for ...different audiences are lacking. We analyzed the readability and linguistic psychological and emotional characteristics of different textual summary formats of Cochrane systematic reviews.
We performed a multitrait-multimethod cross-sectional study of Press releases available at Cochrane web site (n = 162) and corresponding Scientific abstracts (n = 158), Cochrane Clinical Answers (n = 35) and Plain language summaries in English (n = 156), French (n = 101), German (n = 41) and Croatian (n = 156). We used SMOG index to assess text readability of all text formats, and natural language processing tools (IBM Watson Tone Analyzer, Stanford NLP Sentiment Analysis and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count) to examine the affective states and subjective information in texts of Scientific abstracts, Plain language summaries and Press releases.
All text formats had low readability, with SMOG index ranging from a median of 15.6 (95% confidence interval (CI) 15.3-15.9) for Scientific abstracts to 14.7 (95% CI 14.4-15.0) for Plain language summaries. In all text formats, "Sadness" was the most dominantly perceived emotional tone and the style of writing was perceived as "Analytical" and "Tentative". At the psychological level, all text formats exhibited the predominant "Openness" tone, and Press releases scored higher on the scales of "Conscientiousness", "Agreeableness" and "Emotional range". Press releases had significantly higher scores than Scientific abstracts and Plain language summaries on the dimensions of "Clout", and "Emotional tone".
Although the readability of Plain language summaries was higher than that of text formats targeting more expert audiences, the required literacy was much higher than the recommended US 6th grade level. The language of Press releases was generally more engaging than that of Scientific abstracts and Plain language summaries, which are written by the authors of systematic reviews. Preparation of textual summaries about health evidence for different audiences should take into account readers' subjective experiences to encourage cognitive processing and reaction to the provided information.
The European Charter of Patients' Rights (ECPR) presents basic patients' rights in health care. We analysed the characteristics of patients' complaints about their rights submitted through the ...official complaints system and to a non-governmental organization in Croatia.
The official system for patients'complaints in Croatia does not have a common pathway but offers different modes for addressing patient complaints. In this cross-sectional study, we analysed the reports about patients' complaints from the official regional committees sent to the Ministry of Health. We also analysed the complaints received by the Croatian Association for the Protection of Patient's Rights (CAPR) and mapped them to the ECPR.
The aggregated official data from the Ministry of Health in 2017 and 2018 covered only 289 individual complaints from 10 out of 21 counties. Complaints were most frequently related to secondary and tertiary healthcare institutions and details were not provided. CAPR received a total of 440 letters, out of which 207 contained 301 complaints about violations of patients' rights in 2017-2018. The most common complaint was the Right of Access to health care (35.3%) from the ECPR, followed by the Right to Information (29.9%) and the Right to Safety (21.7%). The fewest complaints were about the Right to Complain (1.9%), Right to Innovation (1.4%), Right to Compensation (1.4%), and Right to Preventive Measures (1.0%).
Reporting and dealing with patients' complaints about violations of their patients' rights does not appear to be effective in a system with parallel but uncoordinated complaints pathways. Mapping patient's complaints to the ECPR is a useful tool to assess the perception of patients' rights and to plan actions to improve the complaints system for effective health care.
Global health diplomacy is the applied practice of foreign affairs to further national goals that focus on health issues requiring international cooperation and collective action. We aimed to ...determine how international diplomats and health policy-related professionals in the EU understand the concept of health diplomacy, which impacts both diplomatic relations as well as patients' rights.
In a qualitative interview study, we used a heterogeneous stratified purposeful sampling to reach participants from different countries and different practitioners from the Pyramid of Health Diplomacy: core, multi-stakeholder, and informal. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify the main themes.
We contacted 131 practitioners of GHD, of which 37 responded, and nine agreed to be interviewed. From 11 interview questions, four main themes emerged from the analysis of the individual interview. The participants reported limited knowledge about the definition of GHD but also that they engaged in daily activities and decisions of inter-governmental bodies. They were not aware of existing special education and training for health attachés and made suggestions for improving the field and practice of GHD. They were not fully familiar with the European Charter of Patients' Rights. There was a consensus from all participants that patient rights need to improve as a fundamental right. They stressed the fact that the hospital lockdown and the right access to healthcare were impaired during the COVID pandemic.
The role of health diplomacy in linking public health and foreign affairs is key to respecting patients' rights. Health over other interests is becoming an increasingly critical element in foreign policy. Establishing a clear career path for health attachés is necessary to foster effective global health agreements and coordination across countries.
The concept of the health wallet, a digital platform that consolidates health-related information, has garnered significant attention in the past year. Electronic health data storage and transmission ...have become increasingly prevalent in the healthcare industry, with the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery. This paper emphasizes the significance of recognizing and addressing the ethical implications of digital health technologies and prioritizes ethical considerations in their development. The adoption of health wallets has theoretical contributions, including the development of personalized medicine through comprehensive data collection, reducing medical errors through consolidated information, and enabling research for the improvement of existing treatments and interventions. Health wallets also empower individuals to manage their own health by providing access to their health data, allowing them to make informed decisions. The findings herein emphasize the importance of informing patients about their rights to control their health data and have access to it while protecting their privacy and confidentiality. This paper stands out by presenting practical recommendations for healthcare organizations and policymakers to ensure the safe and effective implementation of health wallets.
Modern health has become a defining facet of contemporary life managed by health policy. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected mental health, resulting in stress and anxiety in doctors’ ...professional and private life. Since the beginning of the pandemic, doctors have been facing chronic stress, which was reported to the hospital managers and health-care agencies, but nothing was done in the practice to protect them. Although doctors are trained to stay emotionally restrained, a large number of patients in intensive care, along with the personal concerns for their families, has led to burnout. This article highlights the need for health politics to take responsibility for dealing with burnout in health-care workers with a new approach that should help doctors recognize, understand, and manage work-related stress with additional support in the pandemic.
•Directive 2011/24/EU on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare shows important gaps.•The Regulation on the EU Digital COVID Certificate raises a question about the strength of EU decisions that ...should be equal to all member states.
E-medical documentation is becoming an increasingly important tool that the European Commission recognizes and puts on the policy agenda, and it is expected to be created in the next few years. The ...main objectives of the EU Health Data Space Framework are to make the health sector more efficient and to advance scientific research in telehealth. One major hurdle is the way to ensure that it is used for the common good, but in the opinion of health professionals, this requires proper consideration of trust, ethics, and safety. For example, e-prescription will be a useful tool, but there are open questions about reimbursing cross-border costs. The potential danger and risks are that the use of eHealth data will affect the general rights of patients, especially the right to privacy and confidentiality under the European Charter of Patients' Rights and the General Data Protection Regulation. We are faced with the fact that not all countries have a national contact point for cross-border healthcare and the Regulation on Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services (eIDAS). This ensures secure access to health data where patients should see who has visited their data in the hospital system or other health platforms, and in addition, may deny access to third parties. It remains challenging to receive reports from several EU countries to the Ombudsman for patients who can make visible data only to themselves through ID-certified health portals, but despite this, the hospital does not have this data and continues to use all the data.
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