Seeking professional help for sleep-related complaints.

Introduction: Sleep-related complaints affect a significant proportion of the adult population in many societies. Despite the prevalence of symptoms and potential secondary and comorbid conditions, the utilization of professional help is quite low. The underlying reasons for this phenomenon have yet to be adequately investigated.

[Strategies against loneliness-examples from an international comparative perspective].

The extent of loneliness differs internationally. Especially in the developed welfare states of Northern Europe, loneliness levels in the population are comparatively low. However, the increase in loneliness in many countries shows that existing concepts are not sufficient to provide effective protection against loneliness.

Is Lower Trust in COVID-19 Regulations Associated with Academic Frustration? A Comparison between Danish and German University Students.

Despite the proximity of both countries, Danes and Germans differ in the level of trust in their government. This may play a role with respect to the disruptive impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students. This study investigated the association between trust in governmental regulations, trust in university regulations, risk perceptions, and academic frustration among Danish and German students.

Fear of Infection and Depressive Symptoms among German University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of COVID-19 International Student Well-Being Study.

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant psychological impact at the population level and fear of infection is one of the stressors involved. The study aimed to examine fear of infection and associations with university students' depressive symptoms, substance use, and social contacts during the COVID-19 outbreak in Germany in May 2020. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted at four German universities (n = 5.

Worsened Financial Situation During the COVID-19 Pandemic Was Associated With Depressive Symptomatology Among University Students in Germany: Results of the COVID-19 International Student Well-Being Study.

Previous findings suggest that university students are at an elevated risk to experience financial hardship and to suffer from depressive symptoms. This vulnerability may have substantially increased during the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic which might have affected students' socio-economic situation but possibly also their mental well-being. We examined whether the financial situation changed during the COVID-19 pandemic among German university students, and whether changes were associated with mental well-being.

Critical Health Literacy in a Pandemic: A Cluster Analysis Among German University Students.

In the COVID-19 pandemic, critical health literacy (CHL-P) has been proposed as a means of addressing issues of complexity, uncertainty, and urgency. Our study aimed to identify CHL-P clusters among university students in Germany and to analyze associations with potential determinants. In May 2020, students at four German universities participated in the COVID-19 International Student Well-Being Study, an online survey that yielded a non-probabilistic sample of N = 5,021.

Perceptions of Study Conditions and Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among University Students in Germany: Results of the International COVID-19 Student Well-Being Study.

Results of previous studies examining the impact of the SARS-CoV-1 epidemic in 2003 on university students' mental well-being indicated severe mental health consequences. It is unclear how the current COVID-19 pandemic and the changes in study conditions due to federal regulations affected mental well-being in the German student population. We examined university students' perceptions of study conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic and investigated associations between study conditions and depressive symptoms.

Worlds of long-term care: A typology of OECD countries.

Providing long-term care (LTC) to the elderly is a major challenge for the welfare state. LTC systems differ widely among countries. Due to recent maturation, economization, and marketization processes, earlier LTC comparisons and typologies are no longer suitable to give a comprehensive overview of LTC systems and their major characteristics.

Engagement in Health Risk Behaviours before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic in German University Students: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study.

Tobacco and cannabis use, alcohol consumption and inactivity are health risk behaviors (HRB) of crucial importance for health and wellbeing. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on university students' engagement in HRB has yet received limited attention. We investigated whether HRB changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, assessed factors associated with change and profiles of HRB changes in university students.

Educational inequalities in mortality amenable to healthcare. A comparison of European healthcare systems.

Background: Educational inequalities in health and mortality in European countries have often been studied in the context of welfare regimes or political systems. We argue that the healthcare system is the national level feature most directly linkable to mortality amenable to healthcare. In this article, we ask to what extent the strength of educational differences in mortality amenable to healthcare vary among European countries and between European healthcare system types.

Social Health Insurance in Europe: Basic Concepts and New Principles.

This article discusses recent developments in and new principles of European social health insurance (SHI). It analyses how privatization policies and competition have altered social insurance and whether financial difficulties are caused by social insurance features not evident in other types of health care systems. There is little if any evidence that SHI causes higher cost increases than other types of systems.

Worlds of Healthcare: A Healthcare System Typology of OECD Countries.

In this paper, we present an extended typology of OECD healthcare systems. Our theoretical framework integrates the comparative-institutional perspective of existing classifications with current ideas from the international health policy research debate. We argue that combining these two perspectives provides a more comprehensive picture of modern healthcare systems and takes the past decade's dynamic of reforms into account.

Depressed during the depression: has the economic crisis affected mental health inequalities in Europe? Findings from the European Social Survey (2014) special module on the determinants of health.

Background: Economic crises constitute a shock to societies with potentially harmful effects to the mental health status of the population, including depressive symptoms, and existing health inequalities.

Methods: With recent data from the European Social Survey (2006–14), this study investigates how the economic recession in Europe starting in 2007 has affected health inequalities in 21 European nations. Depressive feelings were measured with the CES-D eight-item depression scale.

Healthcare system performance improvement: a comparison of key policies in seven high-income countries.

Purpose: Evidence suggests that healthcare system performance may be improved with policy emphasis on primary care, quality improvement, and information technology. The authors therefore sought to investigate the extent to which policy makers in seven countries are emphasizing these areas.

Design/methodology/approach: Policies in these three areas in seven high-income countries were compared.

Social health insurance without corporate actors: changes in self-regulation in Germany, Poland and Turkey.

Social health insurance in Western Europe has for many years been characterized by self-regulation in which specific conditions of healthcare financing and provision have been regulated by social-insurance institutions through mutual self-governance. However, the principle of self-regulation has recently been weakened by increased state regulation and market competition, which were introduced in response to economic and social changes. Even in Germany, which has been regarded as an "ideal-type" health insurance system and in which self-regulation remains at the core of healthcare governance, more direct state intervention has gained in importance.

The World Health Report 2008 - Primary Healthcare: How Wide Is the Gap between Its Agenda and Implementation in 12 High-Income Health Systems?

Background: The World Health Organization's 2008 report asserted that the focus on primary healthcare (PHC) within health systems should increase, with four sets of reforms required. The WHO's PHC advocacy is well founded, yet its report is a policy document that fails to address adoption and implementation questions within WHO member countries. This paper examines the prospects for the WHO PHC agenda in 12 high-income health systems from Asia, Australasia, Europe and North America, comparing performances against the WHO agenda.

Conceptual frameworks for comparing healthcare politics and policy.

This literature review pursues two main objectives: first, it argues that research on health policy actors and healthcare systems need to be separated more thoroughly. Though there are important interactions between both fields, it is often advisable to separate analytically research on health policy actors and on healthcare systems. Second, concentrating not only on actors and institutions but also on outcomes, we suggest, is theoretically valuable, practically feasible, and policy relevant.

Confidence in receiving medical care when seriously ill: a seven-country comparison of the impact of cost barriers.

Objective: This paper examines how negative experiences with the health-care system create a lack of confidence in receiving medical care in seven countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Methods: The empirical analysis is based on data from the Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey 2007, with nationally representative samples of adults aged 18 and over. For the analysis of the experience of cost barriers and confidence in receiving medical care, we conducted pairwise comparisons of group percentages as well as country-wise multivariate logistic regression models.

Social austerity versus structural reform in European health systems: a four-country comparison of health reforms.

Cost containment has captured the attention of health policymakers in most OECD countries, and deliberations about creating powerful financial incentives dominate health care politics. Some European health systems are now implementing hospital payment schemes that mirror the U.S.