Poster Session
Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand (Onsite)
Management of the Health Care System in the Metropolitan Area - Example of the First Polish Metropolis
Poster Session Tomasz Holecki
Rational regional policy requires verification of potential development areas. One of them is healthcare, understood not only as the provision of medical services to the population, but primarily as a development area of the economy, on which a regional strategy building can be based, taking into account the characteristics of innovation and competitive advantage. The relationship between the level of health and economic growth constitutes a bilateral relationship. On the one hand, health is an important factor of economic development, on the other, economic growth has a significant, positive impact on the health of society. Metropolitan areas are a different form of organization and healthcare management can be implemented in contrast to the other parts of the country. This is due to the materialization of the idea of a flexible healthcare, regionally implemented using modern techniques of communication, knowledge transfer and high specialization, and based on the existing communications network infrastructure and the density of human capital, including medical professionals. The study includes the first Polish metropolis - GZM brings together 41 cities and communes with a total area of 2,500 sq km, where 2.3 million residents live, with 240,000 companies and enterprises, generating about 8 percent of country’s GDP. The survey was conducted using the Computer-Assisted Web Interwiew method in January - February 2022. It was addressed to entities influencing the organization and management of health care in the region.
Health Prophylaxis Programs Implemented by Local Governments in Poland
Poster Session Joanna Woźniak Holecka
Health promotion relates to three principles: health policy, disease prevention, and health education. The definition of the health system indicates that it is not only medical care, but also disease prevention and health promotion with cross-sectoral cooperation for public health. The public health system is facing problems and challenges such as: demographic changes in the population, inappropriate lifestyles of citizens and increasing inequalities in health. Health policy programs are one of the most important instruments of supporting the local community by local government units. Development, implementation, and evaluation of the effects of health policy programs is the own task of local government units, which guarantees equal access to health care services for all citizens. The aim of the study is to evaluate the implementation of health programs by Polish local governments and to identify difficulties in their implementation. The research was conducted on a sample of 405 Local Government Units. The survey questionnaire was conducted throughout the country. According to own research, only less than 27.5% of offices currently implement any health policy program. On the other hand, problems with the implementation of programs are related primarily to the lack of funds in the budget (78.6%), shortages of qualified staff (49.3%) and difficulties in finding an external contractor (33.2%). The key conclusion is that the practical implementation of health promotion services in Poland has difficulties resulting from the unsatisfactory organization and coordination of these activities.
Physical Activity, Sense of Humor and Health: Physiological and Subjective Indices View Digital Media
Poster Session Elisabeth Ruiz Padial, Gustavo Reyes
The literature on the association of physical activity with mental health (especially depression and anxiety) is extensive. However, its relationship with sense of humor as a protective factor for mental health has not received much attention. The sixty-two adult participants of the current study were split into two groups according to their habitual physical activity over the previous month as reported in the University of Houston Non-Exercise Questionnaire. Both groups completed the Multidimensional Sense of Humor Scale (MSHS) and were presented with ten humorous, ten incongruent, ten erotica and ten neutral pictures for 6 seconds/each in a passive viewing task while their heart rate responses were recorded. Moreover, resting heart rate variability (HRV), as a reliable index of physical and mental health was also obtained. The results showed that participants in the high physical activity group had better humor sense according to the scores in the MSHS and higher HRV than participants in the low physical activity. Additionally, only the high physical activity group manifested higher heart rate to humorous pictures compared to other emotional pictures. The accelerative component of the cardiac response is linked to positive emotions. These findings provide subjective and physiological indices that suggest a relationship between physical activity, health and sense of humor.
Effects of Negative Emotional-affective States in Health-related Quality of Life in Chronic Health Diseases: Anxiety and Depression in Hematological Cancer, Chronic Renal Failure, and Fibromyalgia View Digital Media
Poster Session Gustavo A Reyes Del Paso
Affective and emotional states can affect functioning and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQoL). This negative influence may be greater in chronic diseases and may determine prognosis. We present here the associations between anxiety-depression and HRQoL in patients with hematological cancer, chronic renal failure and chronic pain (fibromyalgia). Measures of anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Beck Depression Inventory) and HRQoL (Short-Form Health Survey, SF-36) were taken in 69 patients with hematological cancer (Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma and acute myeloid Leukemia), 52 chronic kidney disease patients on hemodialysis and 143 patients with fibromyalgia. Two general functioning indexes were collected from the SF-36, the general physical and mental components, computed using equations weighted for the Spanish population from the eight functional domains of this instrument (physical function, physical role, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social function, emotional role, and mental health) besides the global score. Results showed negative correlations between anxiety-depression and HRQoL in hematological cancer (anxiety: r=-.14, ns, -.35 and -.39; depression: r=-.39, -.35 and -.57; for the physical, mental and overall HRQoL scores, respectively) chronic kidney disease (anxiety: r=-.48, -.73 and -.73; depression: r=-.61, -.63 and -.73; for the physical, mental and overall HRQoL scores, respectively) and fibromyalgia (anxiety: r=-.52, -.34 and -.62; depression: r=-.57, -.37 and -.63; for the physical, mental and overall HRQoL scores, respectively). These results suggest the need to evaluate and treat negative affective states in chronic health diseases in order to improve HRQoL and general wellbeing.
