Levels and Determinants of Place-Of-Death Congruence in Palliative Patients: A Systematic Review

Introduction: Congruence, understood as the agreement between the patient's preferred place of death and their actual place of death, is emerging as one of the main variables indicating the quality of end-of-life care. The aim of this research was to conduct a systematic literature review on levels and determinants of congruence in palliative patients over the period 2010–2021.Method: A systematic review of the literature in the databases of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cuiden, the Cochrane Library, CSIC Indexes, and IBECS. Information was extracted on research characteristics, congruence, and associated factors.Results: A total of 30 studies were identified, mainly of retrospective observational design. The congruence values varied substantially between the various studies, ranging from 21 to 100%. The main predictors of congruence include illness-related factors (functional status, treatments and diagnosis), individual factors (age, gender, marital status, and end of life preferences), and environmental factors (place of residence, availability of health, and palliative care services).Conclusion: This review, in comparison with previous studies, shows that treatment-related factors such as physical pain control, marital status, having a non-working relative, age, discussing preferred place of death with a healthcare professional, and caregiver's preference have been associated with higher levels of congruence. Depending on the study, other factors have been associated with either higher or lower congruence, such as the patient's diagnosis, gender, or place of residence. This information is useful for designing interventions aimed towards greater congruence at the end of life.

Knowledge, Attitudes, Risk Perceptions, and Practices of Spanish Adolescents Toward the COVID-19 Pandemic: Validation and Results of the Spanish Version of the Questionnaire

Background: Adolescence is a period with physical, psychological, biological, intellectual, and social changes in which there is usually little perception of risk. COVID-19 has generated constant situations of change and uncertainty worldwide. During the pandemic, the acquisition of preventive behaviors has been relevant. Various studies carried out with adults associate risk perception and the implementation of preventive behaviors with knowledge about the COVID-19 and with age, but there are not many studies with adolescents. Therefore, the objective is to validate, in Spanish, the questionnaire of the knowledge, attitudes, risk perceptions, and practices of adolescents toward the pandemic, and analyze it according to sociodemographic characteristics.Method: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study, which included adolescents between the ages of 12–18 (n = 354). First, a translation and a back-translation of the questionnaire were performed. The questionnaire was presented in several high schools chosen by convenience sampling and following a non-probabilistic snowball sampling. Reliability and validity analyses were then carried out and the relationships between the different sociodemographic variables (gender, place of residence, level of education, if the person was in a sentimental relationship, and financial aid) were analyzed.Results: The reliability of the questionnaire is acceptable (ordinal alpha = 77%). Knowledge was higher in women, and in those with a higher level of education; and were lower in those who lived in smaller towns, as well as in those who had a member of their family receiving financial aid. In terms of attitudes and risk perceptions, younger adolescents had higher scores, and those who had a member of their family receiving financial aid, lower.Conclusion: The questionnaire is a reliable tool in the Spanish adolescent population. Knowledge was influenced by gender, place of residence, level of education, and financial aid. Attitudes and risk perceptions were influenced by age and financial aid. For practices, no predictors were found. In general, adolescents scored lower on knowledge about COVID-19, but they scored higher on COVID-19 safety practices.

The Impact of Place of Residence on the Sense of Coherence of Population Aged 60–89: Evidence from Poland

Place of living is one of the most important socio-demographic factors which characterizes the lives of older people. The importance of with whom and under what conditions older adults live to a large extent determines their health and standard of living. The goal of the study was to find the relationship between the place of residence and housing condition of older adults in Poland and their sense of coherence and health problems. The 29-item Antonovsky SOC questionnaire was used. In the research 303 people (76% women and 24% men) aged 60–89 were evaluated: 158 lived in their own houses/flats, while 145 resided in Daily Homes of Social Assistance (DPS). The overall result for the sense of coherence was 129.65 for older adults living in their own homes and 126.48 for these living in DPS. Statistical dependence between the place of residence and sense of manageability and meaningfulness was found. There is no dependence between gender and the overall score, nor the three components of the sense of coherence. Statistical dependence was determined in the criterion of age. A higher level of meaningfulness was observed in people aged 60–74. Taking into account the place of residents, 52% of the respondents living in their own houses/flats experience loneliness and among the people living in Daily Homes of Social Assistance, 46% experience loneliness. The type of place of residence is one of the most important personal factors affecting the sense of coherence, chronic health problems, and sense of loneliness. The last factor, especially, can adversely affect community sustainability and undermine social cohesion.

Znaczenie stereotypów w postrzeganiu atrakcyjności Nowej Huty dla odwiedzających i mieszkańców

The paper undertakes the broadly understood perception of tourism space. The research aim is to present the topic in the context of Nowa Huta – the youngest quarter of Krakow (Poland). Empirical data was gathered on the basis of questionnaires distributed among 400 permanent and temporal residents of Krakow and the closest neighburhood of the city. The main hypothesis is related to the existence of differences in the perception of Nowa Huta according to the place of residence of respondents. On the basis of analysis of the empirical material it was proved that the majority of respondents are familiar with the quarter. In their opinion, Nowa Huta is presented as a dangerous, grey, and scary place. Positive perception of the quarter is typical mainly its residents. The results might be used to determine the directions of the future development of Nowa Huta to improve its image and become more attractive for tourists and residents. The results also prove the relationship between the familiarity of the place and its positive perception.

Keinginan Penerapan Program Keluarga Berencana (KB) pada Remaja untuk Masa Mendatang di Provinsi Bengkulu

Background: The government seeks to improve the quality of life of adolescents through coaching related to the generation planning program in order to provide understanding and strengthen family planning in the future, including participation in the Family Planning (KB) program. Objective: This study aims to determine the factors related to the desire of adolescents in implementing family planning programs in the future in Bengkulu Province. Methods: Cross sectional research design with secondary data from the Family Performance and Accountability Survey (SKAP) in 2019. The research sample was 341 unmarried adolescents aged 10-24 years in Bengkulu Province with data analysis using the chi square test. Results: The results of statistical tests showed three variables were significantly associated with desire of adolescent in implementing the family planning in the future namely knowledge (p=0.005), place of residence (p=0.000) and sources of information (p=0.009). Meanwhile, the variables of age (p-value 1.686) and level of education (p-value 0.277) are not significantly associated. Conclusion: place of residence, access to information and knowledge of adolescents about various contraceptive methods are factors related to the desire of adolescents in implementing family planning programs in the future. It is recommended that there be periodic assistance from the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) to optimize the role of the Youth Counseling Information Center (PIK-R) in schools in order to provide motivation to adolescents in planning their future families.

ENVIRONMENT AND LIVING PLACE FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE

Every person’s place of residence is part of their everyday living environment and largely determines their sense of security, while housing conditions affect the quality of life. Therefore, proper housing conditions, meeting the needs of older people and a friendly local environment have an impact on experiencing old age. The research shows that the elderly want to stay in their own house/flat as long as possible, in a familiar and friendly environment. Therefore, it is equally important to adapt a flat or a house to the possibilities of older people, as well as appropriate shaping of the public space, enabling them to move freely. Moreover, aging in the place of residence should mean the launch of numerous services adapted to the changing needs of this very diverse group of elderly people over time, which is part of the de-institutionalization process.

Legal Aspects of Domestic Violence in the Light of Amendments to the Police Act and Other Acts

Violence in the family is an important social issue and one of the most dangerous pathological problems leading to victimisation. It can take various forms, namely physical, psychological, economic and sexual abuse, and each time it causes multi-level consequences for all family members. The extent of domestic violence and its consequences show that the binding regulations of the Act on Counteracting Domestic Violence, as well as of the Code of Criminal Procedure, referring among others to the order for the perpetrator of domestic violence to leave the place of residence, have often proved insufficient in practice. It was therefore necessary to introduce more effective instruments of the legal protection of a person subjected to violence into the Polish legal system, allowing, inter alia, to order the offender to leave the place of residence with immediate effect. It was additionally improved by allowing the court, as a form of safeguarding measures under the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, to extend the validity of an order or a ban issued by the Police or Military Police for a further period of more than 14 days, as well as by speeding up the proceedings related to obliging a violent person to leave a shared dwelling and its immediate vicinity or bar him or her from the dwelling and its immediate vicinity. This was expressed in the Act of 30 April 2020 on amending the Act - the Code of Civil Procedure that came into force on 30 November 2020 and in some other acts. The introduced regulations will make it possible to ensure the safety of a person affected by violence who will not have to leave the dwelling to seek shelter for themselves and their children, and should also contribute to the improvement of victims’ situation and measures taken to counteract violence in the family.

Personal factors of biological aging in working and non-working respondents in late maturity period

The aim was to study the influence of personal factors on the index of individual biological aging in men and women of mature age who continue to work and those who no longer work. The participants were 347 people, including 212 women aged 56-65 years and 111 men aged 61-69 years. Measurement of biological age, relative biological aging index, assessment of subjective psychological age, expected retirement age, life path questionnaire. Biological age was estimated using a formula that included indicators of metabolism, the work of the cardiovascular, respiratory, and balance organ systems; a psychological health questionnaire was also used. The lowest index of relative biological aging was found in people who continued to work part-time. There is a relationship between the index of relative biological aging and one's characteristics. For men, the index was lowered by the following factors: changing the place of residence, continuing to work after retirement, a high indicator of the expected retirement age, and increased by living in a large city. For women, the index was lowered by the following factors: changing the place of residence, continuing to work after retirement, a high indicator of the expected retirement age, higher education, creative hobbies, studying after retirement.

’The Trump Era is Here, and I Finally Feel at Home‘ – Sayed Kashua in Illinois

In early July 2014, the Israeli-Palestinian author Sayed Kashua declared in his popular Hebrew column in the Ha’aretz newspaper that he is done with Jerusalem, that he has moved to the United States for good and is never coming back. Despite this emotional statement and his decision to give up on Israel, Kashua continued to write his popular weekly column for over three years mostly from his new place of residence in the midwestern city of Champaign, in Illinois, a location vastly different from the Jerusalem he left behind. Using theories of migration and transnational writing to examine Kashua’s non-fictional Hebrew and English works during this period I argue that there is tension between the character Kashua assumes for his Israeli readership and the one he assumes when writing for an American audience. These fictional personae relate differently to the move to the US and the possibility of returning to Israel. Moreover, Kashuua’s Israeli persona continues to write from a minority position whereas his American counterpart, despite concerted efforts, cannot avoid identifying with white privilege. The article then traces the dissolution of Kashua’s dual personae to his decision in November 2017 to stop writing the weekly column.

REGULATION OF LOCAL REFERENDUM RELATIONS – A PRECONDITION FOR FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECENTRALIZATION REFORM

The article analyzes the prospects for the legal regulation of relations the organization and conduct of a local referendum in Ukraine. The relevance of the topic is due to a number of reasons: a local referendum is indeed one of the effective tools through which a territorial community can exercise its power directly. Therefore, this right is declared not only in the text of the Constitution of Ukraine. A number of special laws indicate that certain decisions can be made at a local referendum. However, the legal uncertainty that arose after the termination of the law of Ukraine “On All-Ukrainian and Local Referendums” and the recognition of the Law of Ukraine as unconstitutional by which the aforementioned Law was terminated, has not yet been eliminated in Ukraine. So the main attention in the article is directed to the analysis of the draft law “On local referendum” (register № 5512), submitted to the parliament on May 19, 2021 and sent on October 30, 2021 to The Venice Commission. The purpose of the article is to investigate the compliance of the content of the above-mentioned draft law with the Constitution of Ukraine and European standards embodied in acts of international organizations, of which our state is a member. In general, having positively assessed the content of the above draft law, the article substantiates the advisability of introducing a number of amendments into it due to Resolution 472 (2021) and Recommendation 459 (2021) “Conducting referenda at the local level”, adopted on May 18, 2021 by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, and the decision of the European Court of Human Rights of October 21, 2021 in the case “Seligenenko and others v. Ukraine”. It is proposed: to allow to participate in the local referendum not only those citizens of Ukraine who registered their place of residence on the territory of the corresponding territorial community, but also those who registered their place of residence there and are taxpayers for at least six consecutive months; introduce the possibility of using electronic services when voting at a local referendum; to remove the norm that makes it impossible to simultaneously hold elections and a local referendum, and we also propose to determine the subject of the appointment of a local referendum not to the territorial commission from the local referendum, but to the village, settlement, mayor, chairman of the district, regional, district council in the city.