Self-Advocates with Intellectual Disability about Their Work as Social Educators – a Qualitative Polish Study

The paper presents the opinions of self-advocates with mild intellectual disability about their work as social educators – public self-advocates raising disability awareness. Six semi-structured individual interviews were conducted. Data was analyzed within the framework of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The themes which emerged from the interviews comprise: the motives of educators to work as self-advocates, opportunities to gain new skills and to raise public awareness about disability given by this activity, the difficulties they experience being social educators and ways to overcome them, the meaning of self-advocacy in their lives as well as the readiness to recommend this work to other people with disability. The gathered data suggests that, according to the self-advocates, being a social educator enhances the social status of self-advocates. It also provides an opportunity to develop skills, new social roles and sometimes positive identities, which is in line with the assumptions of the theoretical models of self-advocacy.

Stereotactic management of arrhythmia – radiosurgery in treatment of ventricular tachycardia (SMART-VT) – clinical trial protocol and study rationale

Patients with vetricular tachycardia are usually treated with antiarrhythmic drugs and ablation if the arrhythmia substrate is available for invasive treatment. Despite high efficiency of this treatment there is a significant group of patients who do not benefit from available treatment methods, either because they cannot be applied or do not allow for durable control of the disease. For that reason a novel treatment method, STereotactic Arrhythmia Radioablation (STAR) has been proposed and its safety and efficiency is extensively studied throughout the world. The method is based on irradiation of the arrhythmia substrate identified with electrophysiological examination with high-precision image-guided radiosurgical methods usually used for ablation of malignant tumors. Here we present the protocol of the first Polish study on STAR in patients with intractable ventricular tachycardia (STARVT, NCT04642963), designed to test the safety of the method. Secondary endpoints include measures of the treatment efficiency.

David Foster Wallace

The first Polish study on the work of one of the most significant American authors of the turn of the centuries offers an overview of Wallace's oeuvre featuring its major themes, recurrent in a variety of contexts, important philosophical influences, and characteristic qualities of his poetics.

P1463Regional variation in survival rates among primary prevention implantable cardioverter-defibrillator recipients in Eastern and Northern Europe POLKARD Polish ICD Registry perspective

Funding Acknowledgements None. OnBehalf POLKARD Polish ICD Registry Objective The findings of Danish Study to assess the efficiency of ICD in patients with non ischemic heart failure has recently raised questions about the current strategy of ICD implantation for the primary prevention of sudden cardiac death. POLKARD - Polish ICD Registry is a prospective, non-randomised, central registry of patients who are referred for an implantation of an ICD in Poland. The Registry contains prospectively collected follow-up data including mortality. Purpose To compare survival rates between Polish and Danish ‘real-world’ non-ischemic primary prevention cohorts. Methods Retrospective analysis of clinical characteristics and long-term follow-up of patients referred for primary prophylactic implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) implantation in Poland between April 2008 and November 2014 was performed. The primary outcome of the trial was all-cause mortality. Results: The polish study cohort was large (964) as compared to Danish population randomized to receive ICD therapy (556). The median follow-up time in DANISH Study and Polish ICD Registry was 67,6 and 77 months, respectively. Compared with patients enrolled in the DANISH Study, patients in the Polish ICD Registry were age-similar. However, the polish study population was male-dominated. What is more, male gender was identified as a risk factor for long-term mortality in polish study population (p = 0.005). In the matched cohorts, there was difference in survival between DANISH Study and Polish ICD Registry patients (all-cause mortality rates: 21,6% - 44 events per 1000 person-years and 39,3% - 72 events per 1000 person-years, respectively). Conclusions Our findings imply that survival among patients who receive a primary prevention ICD for non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in clinical practice in Central Europe is different from Northern Europe.

Gambling in Prisons – A Nationwide Polish Study of Sentenced Men

Despite the abandonment of the criterion of committing illegal acts in the diagnosis of pathological gambling in fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), research confirms the significant link between crime, gambling, and gambling addiction. In Poland, this connection is observed by psychologists working in the prison service, who simultaneously report the need for more structured interactions that would solve gambling problems among prisoners. The lack of any data on the involvement of persons committing crimes in gambling in Poland formed the basis for the implementation of a survey of gambling behaviour and gambling problems among male offenders in Polish correctional institutions. A total of 1,219 sentenced men took part in the study. The research tool included 75 questions, including queries from the South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Based on SOGS, the prevalence rate of severe problem gambling was 29.4% over the lifetimes of the prisoners. As many as 13.1% of respondents admitted to having gambled in prison. This activity usually involved cards, bets or dice. More than 74% of incarcerated men who gambled in prison met the criteria for pathological gambling. Prisoners who gambled more in prison than at liberty made up 27.7%. As many as 69.3% of respondents declared that while in prison, they had met fellow convicts experiencing problems because of gambling. The study shows that criminals continue gambling after detention, especially those who are problem gamblers, an overall finding which implies the need to implement preventive and therapeutic interventions in correctional institutions.RésuméMalgré l’abandon du critère d’actes illégaux dans le diagnostic du jeu pathologique, dans la cinquième édition du Manuel diagnostique et statistique des troubles mentaux (DSM-V), la recherche confirme le lien important entre criminalité, jeu et dépendance. En Pologne, ce lien est observé par des psychologues travaillant dans le service pénitentiaire, signalant en même temps le besoin d’interactions plus structurées qui résoudraient les problèmes de jeu chez les détenus. L’absence de données sur la participation de personnes commettant des délits aux jeux d’argent en Pologne a servi de base à la mise en œuvre d’une enquête sur les comportements et les problèmes de jeu chez les délinquants de sexe masculin dans les établissements correctionnels polonais. Au total, 1 219 prisonniers ont participé à l’étude. L’outil de recherche comprenait 75 questions, dont des questions tirées du South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS). Selon le SOGS, le taux de prévalence du jeu problématique sévère était de 29,4 % au cours de la vie des détenus. Jusqu’à 13,1 % des répondants ont reconnu avoir joué en prison. Les jeux comprenaient généralement des cartes, des paris ou des dés. Plus de 74 % des hommes incarcérés qui ont joué en prison répondaient aux critères de jeu pathologique. Les détenus qui jouaient plus en prison qu’en liberté représentaient 27,7 %. Jusqu’à 69,3 % des répondants ont déclaré qu’en prison, ils ont rencontré des personnes éprouvant des problèmes de jeu. L’étude montre que les criminels continuent de jouer après la détention, en particulier ceux qui sont des joueurs compulsifs, ce qui laisse entrevoir la nécessité de mettre en œuvre des interventions préventives et thérapeutiques dans les établissements correctionnels.