Search

Background: The Sarcoma Policy Checklist was created by a multidisciplinary expert group to provide policymakers with priority areas to improve care for sarcoma patients.Main Body: This paper draws on this research, by looking more closely at how France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom are addressing each of these priority areas. It aims to highlight key gaps in research, policy and practice, as well as ongoing initiatives that may impact the future care of sarcoma patients in different European countries. A pragmatic review of the published and web-based literature was undertaken. Telephone interviews were conducted in each country with clinical and patient experts to substantiate findings. Research findings were discussed within the expert group and developed into five core policy recommendations. The five identified priority areas were: the development of designated and accredited centres of reference; more professional training; multidisciplinary care; greater incentives for research and innovation; and more rapid access to effective treatments. Most of the countries studied have ongoing initiatives addressing many of these priorities; however, many are in early stages of development, or require additional funding and resources.Conclusion: Gaps in access to quality care are particularly concerning in many of Europe's lower-resourced countries. Equitable access to information, clinical trials, innovative treatments and quality specialist care should be available to all sarcoma patients. Achieving this across Europe will require close collaboration between all stakeholders at both the national and European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the diversity in patients' experience of biomedicine and contrasts it with the normative view characteristic of health professionals. Ethnographic fieldwork among Polish migrant women in London, Barcelona and Berlin included interviews about their experiences with local healthcare and health professionals. Themes drawn from the narratives are differences between the cities in terms of communication between patients and health professionals, respect for patients' choices and dignity, attitudes to pregnancy and birth (different levels of medicalization), and paediatric care. It is argued that patients continuously negotiate among their own views and expectations based on previous experiences and knowledge from personal communication; internet forums and publications; and the offer of medical services in the countries of their settlement. Patients experience pluralism of therapeutic traditions within and outside bio-medicine. In turn, representatives of bio-medicine are rarely aware of other medical practices and beliefs and this leads to various misunderstandings. By highlighting the pluralism of medical practices in European countries and the increasing mobility of patients, this case study has useful implications for medical anthropologists and health professionals in a broader Western context, such as raising sensitivity to different communication strategies and a diversity of curing traditions and expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To provide initial data regarding country‐specific evidence of workplace violence towards nurses working within the health sector in five European countries. Methods: This is a descriptive and cross‐sectional pilot study, conducted in June 2016. The sample consisted of 260 nurses working in selected health care settings in five participating countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, and Spain). The questionnaire used was adapted from the International Labour Office/International Council of Nurses/World Health Organisation/Public Services International Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Country Case Study—Questionnaire. Results: A large number of participants confirmed that they had been physically attacked or verbally abused in the workplace in the last 12 months. In most cases, the physical and verbal abuse was inflicted by patients and to a lesser degree by relatives of patients, staff members, or managers/supervisors. In the majority of cases, no action was taken to investigate the causes of the incidents. In most cases, participants believed there was no point in reporting the incidents. However, the reasons for not reporting or discussing incidents of workplace violence varied depending on the country. Conclusion: Workplace violence towards nurses is a serious problem internationally, and violence prevention strategies need to be implemented. SUMMARY STATEMENT: What is already known about this topic? The nursing profession is at high risk of workplace violence. However, the problem seems to be severely underreported.What this paper adds? A better understanding of the problem in the social and cultural context, together with data fill information gaps regarding workplace violence in selected European countries.The implications of this paper: On the basis of the data obtained, prevention programmes and recommendations can be established and implemented in nurses' daily lives. Evaluation can also be conducted of the effectiveness of existing programmes and standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Catalonia (in the north east of the Iberian Peninsula) is among the most prospected territories in Europe, from the ethnobotanical point of view. The aim of the present paper is to undertake a global analysis in the area considered, including plants, plant life forms, and ethnobotanical data within a physiographic and geographic framework. Methods: Data from 21 ethnobotanical prospection areas in Catalonia were collected, analyzed, and compared, with the focus on plant life forms and geographic divisions. Results: A total of 824 taxa constitute the Catalan ethnoflora, and 316 of them are shared by the six physiographic zones recognized in Catalonia. When three major geographic areas are considered (Pyrenean, inland, and littoral), 394 taxa have been reported in only one out of the three areas. Concerning life forms, phanerophytes and chamaephytes together, i.e., those taxa present all through the year, are the most cited (37.12%). Conclusions: This first study constitutes a new approach to ethnobotanical data analysis. The results show the particular importance of plants with a large distribution area and plants with available biomass throughout the year. Apart from this, other kind of plants, e.g., those present in only one territory, are of interest for its originality and sometimes for the local significance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]