Practices to overcome the inexistence of Advance Care Planning in Poland.

Although the first Advance Care Planning (ACP) models were developed decades ago, Poland is still a country where ACP has not yet been implemented, despite its apparent benefits for both patients and the health care system. This article presents the legal and cultural context, main impediments, and opportunities for implementing ACP in Poland. Legal regulations are mandatory to ensure respect for the patient's will.

Experiencing Violence among Children and Adolescents with Depression in the Aspect of Polish Law.

Violence is not uncommon in the contemporary world. The consequences of harmful experiences in childhood are often educational problems, difficult behavior, failure to cope in adulthood, duplication of learned, negative behavior patterns and disorders in various spheres/areas of life. The experience of childhood violence is associated with the occurrence of about half of mental disorders with onset in childhood and one third of disorders that appear later in life.

The notion of grievous bodily harm and the legal obligation to notify law enforcement authorities.

The obligation of physicians and other health professionals under Art. 240 § 1 of the Criminal Code instructs them to notify the law enforcement authority responsible for prosecuting crimes (in particular the Police or public prosecutor's office) when prohibited acts are committed, attempted, or prepared. The list of such acts is enumerative, indicating the numbers of the relevant articles and paragraphs.

The right to intimacy of minors in the practice of pediatric endocrinologists.

Nowadays, the subjectivity of each person and respect for their rights, especially the right to privacy and personal dignity, are strongly emphasized. The right to intimacy is derived from the former. This right is guaranteed by numerous laws, including the Constitution of the Republic of Poland.

The right to information.

The right to self-determination, including the decision on treatment, is affirmed in modern societies. Therefore, the fundamental condition of legal procedures is informed consent of a patient or an authorised person. However, to make the consent legally effective, some conditions have to be met; of these, the provision of comprehensive medical information is of the utmost importance.