Family Physicians' Awareness of the Burden of Oral Corticosteroids in Asthma Patients.

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify when family physicians decide to prescribe oral corticosteroids (OCS) to treat asthma, to establish the factors affecting their decision, and how familiar family physicians are with the side effects of OCS.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted among physicians that are members of the Slovenian Family Medicine Society.

Results: The study included 122 family physicians from all 12 Slovenian regions.

Educator's role in preventing ageism.

Aims: This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the educator's role in imparting knowledge to healthcare students regarding ageism in Slovenia.

Methods: Educators in Slovenian secondary nursing schools and in medical and health science faculties were asked to evaluate their practical experience in working with older people, their knowledge of gerontology and working with older people, and their attitude toward working with older people using an online questionnaire. They were also asked to rate their opinion about ageism on a Likert scale, along with reasons for ageism, skills that would help reduce ageism, their opinion about trainees' attitudes toward older people, and their assessment of certain facts about planning training.

The Vaper's Perspective: A Qualitative Study of E-Cigarette Users and Smokers in Slovenia.

Background: The use of e-cigarettes has been rapidly expanding in recent years. The reasons people in Slovenia chose to use electronic cigarettes have not been studied to date. This study examines e-cigarette users' attitudes regarding their health risks.

Experiences of quality of life and access to health services among rare disease caregivers: a scoping review.

Background: Research on rare diseases focuses less on caregivers, who play an important role in meeting the medical and social needs of the people they care for. Caregivers of people with rare diseases face negative outcomes due to problems with diagnosis, caring for complex conditions and expensive treatments. However, the factors that affect their quality of life are poorly understood.

Needs and Experiences With Health Care Providers of Adult Rare Disease Patients and Caregivers of People With Rare Diseases: Protocol for a Qualitative Study.

Background: Rare diseases in Europe are defined as diseases with a prevalence of less than 5 per 10,000 people. Despite their individual rarity, the total number of rare diseases is considerable. Rare diseases are often chronic and complex, affecting physical, mental, and neurological health.

Content Validity and Cognitive Testing in the Development of a Motivational Interviewing Self-Assessment Questionnaire.

Aim: To develop and content validate a self-assessment questionnaire on motivational interviewing (MI) practice as the first stages in forming the questionnaire to be used in cross-sectional studies involving practitioners conducting the MI-based alcohol screening and brief intervention (ASBI).

Methods: A comprehensive mixed methods approach included a literature review, 3 rounds of expert panel (EP) opinions (n=10), cognitive testing (CT) with 10 MI-based ASBI practitioners, and questionnaire piloting with 31 MI-based ASBI practitioners. Based on the EP opinions in the second round, content validity indices (CVIs) and the modified kappa coefficient (k*) were calculated, focusing on the relevance and understandability of questions and comprehensiveness and meaningfulness of the response options.

Long COVID as a never-ending puzzle: the experience of primary care physicians. A qualitative interview study.

Background: Long COVID provides a new context in which primary health care needs to be re-examined, especially because it has health and social dimensions. Primary care physicians' experiences and perceptions of caring for patients with long COVID are an underexplored area.

Aim: To explore the experiences of Slovenian primary care physicians in management and treatment of patients with long COVID.

Prevalence of alcohol consumption among high school students: A cross-sectional study.

Aim: This study addresses the risk and protective factors for alcohol consumption among medical-technology high school students. The specific objectives of the study were to analyse standard influences on excessive alcohol consumption (influence of parents and upbringing) and possible modern influences, represented by social networks and internet use.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis.

The Effect of an Educational Intervention on Self-Care in Patients with Venous Leg Ulcers-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Although patients with venous leg ulcers are involved in ulcer management, little is known about why and how these patients self-treat their ulcers without direct supervision by health professionals. Yet patients' knowledge of ulcer management can be important for achieving ulcer closure and/or preventing recurrence. This study thus investigates the effects of an educational intervention on knowledge of self-care among patients with venous leg ulcers, mainly on wound dressing practice, compression therapy, physical activity and nutrition.

Medical students' perception of distance-based education during the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia: A qualitative study.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a broad direct impact on education, and at the same time it has significantly changed students' lives. This study examines how Slovenian medical students experienced the shift to distance-based education following multiple lockdowns.

Methods: The aim of this study is to examine experiences of medical students about distance-based education in the period of multiple lockdowns in 2020/2021.

COVID-19 and Care for the Elderly in Long-Term Care Facilities: The Role of Information Communication Technology.

Objective: To review the changes in communication in long-term care facilities (LTCF) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A systematic literature review was conducted through a keyword search of the PubMed and Ovid Embase databases. In accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 11 articles were selected and analysed qualitatively.

The Frequency and Form of Controls by HIIS over Primary Health Care Physicians in Slovenia.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the pattern of controls and sanctions by the Health Insurance Institute (HIIS) over primary healthcare practitioners (PHCPs) in Slovenia, the reasons for sanctions and the violence against PHCPs if they followed the HIIS rules.

Materials And Methods: We performed analyses using survey data from a cross-sectional study, across public health centres and individual contractors in which 1,458 PHCPs were invited to answer a questionnaire anonymously via an online system used to collect data for the Slovenian Medical Chamber and the Association of General Practice/Family Medicine of South-East Europe. Quantitative data were presented by descriptive statistics and analysed using Pearson's chisquared test.

Forms and Frequency of Sanctions against General Practitioners and Family Medicine Specialists in Macedonia.

Objective: The goal of this study is to evaluate the reasons for sanctioning and the types of sanctions used on general medicine primary healthcare practitioners (GM-PHPs) in the Republic of Macedonia.

Materials And Method: This is a cross-sectional study for which we used an anonymous survey. This survey was distributed in a printed and electronic form to GM-PHPs in different parts of Macedonia and 438 of them responded.

Informal Care in the Context of Long-term Health Care for the Elderly in Slovenia: a Qualitative Study.

Background: Slovenia is an aging society. Social security expenditures for the elderly are rising steadily, and the majority of Slovenians are firmly convinced that the state must provide elder care. This situation means that informal caregivers face many challenges and problems in their altruistic mission.

Reasons for the low influenza vaccination rate among nurses in Slovenia.

Aim: This study aimed to identify nurses' views on influenza vaccination and factors that might explain why they do not receive influenza vaccinations, and to examine any ethical issues encountered in the vaccination process.

Background: All 27 European Union member states and 2 other European countries recommended influenza vaccinations for healthcare workers in 2014-15. Data show that the influenza vaccination rate among nurses in Slovenia is even lower than in other European countries.

Palliative care in primary care: European Forum for Primary Care position paper.

Aim: The aim of this position paper is to assist primary health care (PHC) providers, policymakers, and researchers by discussing the current context in which palliative health care functions within PHC in Europe. The position paper gives examples for improvements to palliative care models from studies and international discussions at European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC) workshops and conferences.

Background: Palliative care is a holistic approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing problems associated with terminal illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and diligent assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial, or spiritual.

Workplace Violence and Sanctioning of Family Medicine Physicians Due to the Rules of Health Insurance Funds in the Western Balkan.

Introduction: After family medicine's famous beginnings in the early 60's through introduction of the world's first family medicine specialization, with transitional changes and war also come changes in former Yugoslavia's healthcare systems.

Aim: The primary aim of this article is to analyze frequency and causes of sanctioning of family physicians by Health insurance funds in the countries of former Yugoslavia. The secondary aim is to evaluate frequency and types of workplace violence family physicians experienced due to insurance boundaries for patients.

ECCO Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care: Primary care.

ECCO Essential Requirements for Quality Cancer Care (ERQCC) are checklists and explanations of organisation and actions that are necessary to give high-quality care to cancer patients. They are written by European experts representing all disciplines involved in cancer care. This paper concerns the integration of primary care into care for all cancers in Europe.

Through health workers' eyes: a qualitative study of health service provision for migrants at Schengen border.

Background: Croatia and Slovenia were the transit countries on the Balkan route for migrants and refugees from Middle East countries in 2015 and 2016. They had to optimize health care delivery in the special circumstances in refugee camps and transit centres. Little is known about health care provision in border camps where a large number of migrants stay for only couple of hours.

Frailty Assessment Scales for the Elderly and their Application in Primary Care: A Systematic Literature Review.

Background: The increase in the elderly population is causing changes and challenges that demand a comprehensive public health response. A specific characteristic of the elderly is their frailty. Today's problems with identifying levels of frailty are being resolved by numerous tools in the form of frailty assessment scales.

"Wounds Home Alone"-Why and How Venous Leg Ulcer Patients Self-Treat Their Ulcer: A Qualitative Content Study.

Background: Venous leg ulcers (VLUs), the most common type of leg ulcerations, have long healing times and high recurrence rates; reimbursement rules and a general shortage of nursing staff have put self-treatment into focus. The study aimed to investigate why and how patients with VLUs self-treat their ulcers.

Methods: Patients with VLUs ( = 32) were selected by criterion sampling for a multicentric qualitative study using semi-structured interviews.

Development and evaluation of a web-based capacity building course in the EUR-HUMAN project to support primary health care professionals in the provision of high-quality care for refugees and migrants.

Background: The ongoing refugee crisis has revealed the need for enhancing primary health care (PHC) professionals' skills and training.

Objectives: The aim was to strengthen PHC professionals in European countries in the provision of high-quality care for refugees and migrants by offering a concise modular training that was based on the needs of the refugees and PHC professionals as shown by prior research in the EUR-HUMAN project.

Methods: We developed, piloted, and evaluated an online capacity building course of 8 stand-alone modules containing information about acute health issues of refugees, legal issues, provider-patient communication and cultural aspects of health and illness, mental health, sexual and reproductive health, child health, chronic diseases, health promotion, and prevention.

[Primary care of refugees and migrants. Lesson learnt from the EUR-HUMAN project].

In 2015, local wars, starvation and misery in some Middle Eastern, Asian and African countries forced millions of people to leave their homelands. Many of these people migrated toward Europe, reaching Hungary as well. The refugee crisis created significant challenges for all national healthcare systems across Europe.

Community orientation of general practitioners in 34 countries.

General practitioners (GPs) are frontline health workers. They should be sensitive to the health needs of the community in addition to caring for patients that visit their practice. Due to changes in demography, epidemiology, ecology and healthcare policy, a community orientation becomes more important.