Lifestyle behaviours in patients with established cardiovascular diseases: a European observational study.

Background: Patients who have experienced a cardiovascular clinical event such as a myocardial infarction or stroke qualify for intensive risk factor evaluation and management. The aim of this study is to explore lifestyle changes as well as the achievement of targets for risk factors in patients with established cardiovascular disease.

Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted in primary care practices.

Perception of preventive care and readiness for lifestyle change in rural and urban patients in Poland: a questionnaire study.

Introduction And Objective: The idiosyncrasies of rural health demand further research to instigate rural health initiatives and to monitor progress in rural health care. In 2008, a study examined health-related behaviour, perception of importance of preventive interventions, readiness to change lifestyle and willingness to receive support from GPs, according to gender and place of residence.

Material And Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among patients who visited any of ten randomly-selected general practices in Poland.

Twenty-five years of the international Bled course for teachers of family medicine in Europe: Glancing back and looking forward.

The international Bled course for teacher training has played a central role in faculty development in family medicine for the past 25 years. The course was originally designed to promote faculty development for family medicine teachers in the new academic discipline of family medicine in Slovenia in 1990 and to introduce new topics into the family medicine curriculum. In this background paper, we perform a SCOT analysis (strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats) of the current course, evaluating participant feedback and reviewing past topics and their impact on local and international teaching programmes.

Screening and Registering Patients with Asthma and Copd in Slovenian Primary Care: First Results.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate a new project of the Slovene Ministry of Health - the Family Medicine Model Practices (MPs) Project in Slovenia, and to show its effectiveness in the management of asthma and COPD by family medicine practice teams, consisting of a family physician, a nurse practitioner and a practice nurse.

Methods: A total of 107 family practices with 203122 patients joined the project during the first year of its initiation. The effectiveness of the program in disease management was analysed in two phases according to the registration of family practices.

Factors that affect readiness to change lifestyle: a 22-country survey from primary care.

Background: The family physician's task in prevention is not only an assessment of patients' health risks but also counselling individual patients.

Aim: Aim of this primary care based study was to find how patients' characteristics relate to their readiness to change.

Methods: This multinational cross-sectional survey was conducted in primary care in 22 European countries, coordinated by EUROPREV.

Attitudes toward preventive services and lifestyle: the views of primary care patients in Europe. the EUROPREVIEW patient study.

Background: For preventive interventions in general practice to succeed, patients' points of view must be taken into account in addition to those of GPs.

Objective: To explore patients' views and beliefs about the importance of lifestyle and preventive interventions, to assess their readiness to make changes to their lifestyle and their willingness to receive support from GPs.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey conducted by EUROPREV in primary care practices in 22 European countries.

Attitudes of Slovenian family practice patients toward changing unhealthy lifestyle and the role of family physicians: cross-sectional study.

Aim: To assess patients' attitudes toward changing unhealthy lifestyle, confidence in the success, and desired involvement of their family physicians in facilitating this change.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 15 family physicians' practices on a consecutive sample of 472 patients (44.9% men, mean age(±standard deviation) 49.

Faculty development for teachers of family medicine in Europe: reflections on 16 years' experience with the international Bled course.

Background: Instruction in principles and methods of medical education is a core component of the training of medical teachers. Curricula for new medical teachers have developed across Europe, but few European courses have had the success of the EURACT Bled course for teachers of family medicine. The course focuses on practical issues in medicine and the professional development of physicians.

Specialist training of Slovene family physicians.

Unlabelled: Family medicine in Europe started to develop in the 1960s with the introduction of obligatory specialist training. Slovenia is a country with a long tradition of family medicine specialist training, but up until 2002 this was neither elaborated on nor conducted by peers in general practice/family medicine. When the country's socialist system started to transform due to political reforms, Slovenia began to modify its system in order to meet the criteria of the European Union.

Twelve-year blood pressure dynamics in adults in Ljubljana area, Slovenia: contribution of WHO Countrywide Integrated Noncommunicable Diseases Intervention Program.

Aim: To determine 12-year dynamics of the average value of arterial blood pressure and arterial hypertension prevalence among adult residents of Ljubljana area in Slovenia, and to assess the probable contribution of World Health Organization's Countrywide Integrated Noncommunicable Diseases Intervention Program (CINDI) to observed dynamics.

Methods: A total of 4409 adults aged 25-64 participated in three successive cross-sectional surveys performed in Ljubljana area from late autumn to early spring 1990/1991, 1996/1997, and 2002/2003 (n(1990/91)=1692, n(1996/97)=1342, n(1990/91)=1375). Standardized measurements of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were performed.

Prevention and health promotion in clinical practice: the views of general practitioners in Europe.

Background: Disease prevention and health promotion are important tasks in the daily practice of all general practitioners (GPs). The objective of this study was to explore the knowledge and attitudes of European GPs in implementing evidence-based health promotion and disease prevention recommendations in primary care, to describe GPs' perceived barriers to implementing these recommendations and to assess how GPs' own health behaviors affect their work with their patients.

Methods: A postal multinational survey was carried out from June to December 2000 in a random sample of GPs listed from national colleges of each country.

Academic medicine: what does an outsider have to offer?

One of the many problems of academic medicine is its detachment from actual health problems of the population. Family medicine has a potential of bridging this gap. The paper describes the positive experience from introducing family medicine as a new academic discipline to the medical school in Slovenia.

Introducing performance-based assessment of family physicians.

Slovenia has implemented a new final summative assessment for vocational training in family medicine. As all family medicine trainees work independently in practice, the assessment is focused on actual performance. The preparation included a literature search, consultation with foreign experts, consultation with tutors and trainees in general practice and testing the assessment with experienced practitioners.