On October 24 we received representatives from the Children’s Organization FÉNIX, o.z. – Chairwoman Eva Pintérová and Vice-President Patrik Herman – at the Institute of Health Psychology and Research Methodology.

The main objective of the meeting was to implicate the results of the HBSC study in Slovakia in active youth work as we also tried to provide answers to the current challenges of today’s generation (GenZ). Based on the previous effective and active collaboration of the Children’s Organization FÉNIX, a memorandum on cooperation between these institutions was signed also for the upcoming period in the area of preparation and implementation of the HBSC 2021/2022 study in Slovakia.

Great speakers, great audience! We spent last two days presentating, brainstorming and discussing about Generation Z and associated research challenges and solutions.

Researchers with different backgrounds and from different countries met and tried to shift their research interests into new and unexplored lands in order to understand Generation Z better.

Great thanks to Slovak HBSC team and our invited quests for their contributions!

Want to learn more about “GENERATION ‘Z’ AS A RESEARCH CHALLENGE”? Attend our lectures which will take place on October 22 at the Minerva building!

Last week we had a special visit to the Faculty of Medicine. Students and our colleagues had the opportunity to listen to Omama from the marginalized Roma settlement and her mentor PhDr. Katarína Šiňanská, PhD. talking about how they stimulate the development of the youngest children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

On October 11, an interactive educational workshop called Health and Healthy Lifestyle – Generation Z was held in the premises of the Regional Youth Center in Košice.

Dr. Jaroslava Kopčáková and Victoria Karychenskaya in cooperation with those working directly with young people (primary and secondary school teachers, educational counselors, workers in leisure centers, representatives of the Košice self-governing region, representatives of the Department of Education at the City Council of Košice, Iuventa, Regional Youth Center, parents) tried to respond to current challenges of today’s generation (GenZ) based on scientific and research findings of the HBSC study in Slovakia.

Thank you all for your active cooperation!

Our colleagues Jaroslav Rosenberger and Aurel Zelko attended the 41st Congress of Slovak Society of Nephrology (9.-11.10.2019, held in Trnava, Slovakia). They presented and discussed the importance of health literacy and physical activity research for treatment and secondary prevention in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Our colleagues Lucia Bosáková, Daniela Husárová, Jaroslava Kopčáková, Miriama Lacková Rebičová and Shoshana Chovan participated in the 3rd year of the Czech-Slovak scientific conference QUALITY OF LIFE 2019 entitled “Interdisciplinarity as a wealth of knowledge based on diversity”, which took place on 3rd and 4th of October 2019 in Stara Lesna organized  by Institute of Pyschology, Faculty of Arts, Presov university.

Our colleague dr. Jaroslava Kopcakova were in Erasmus+ mobility in Olomouc, Czech republic (at Faculty of Physical culture, Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech republic) from 30th of September to 3rd of October.

During this time she attended work meetings and discussion with some experts (assoc. prof. Dagmar Sigmundova, assoc. prof. Ales Gaba, dr. Peter Badura, prof. Erik Sigmund) in area of supporting active living during adolescence and WHO Global Action Plan for Physical Activity – Linking physical activity and health.

On the 2nd of October 2019 our colleague, Andrej Belak, have been awarded a PhD degree at the University of Groningen during a defence and PhD ceremony held in the University of Groningen’s auditorium. The thesis entitled “The health of segregated Roma: first-line views and practices – A case study in Slovakia using ethnographic methods” was defended in the presence of the College of Deans and the PhD Examining Committee. More information about defence ceremony might be found here.

This thesis assesses the views and practices first of segregated Roma, i.e. Roma living in separated communities, and then of health system professionals in Slovakia regarding the poor health status of segregated Roma in the country. It aims to contribute to the understanding of the health inequalities between segregated Roma and the general populations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Based on four ethnographic studies, the thesis offers novel insights regarding three kinds of pathways. First, it adds that some CEE segregated Roma develop themselves ethnically framed racialized ideologies against the culture of local “non-Roma” standards of life, including care. Such social norms then shape health-endangering exposures of these Roma within the segregated enclaves in various ways, which vary by the household’s social level. Second, the thesis adds that frequently provided substandard healthcare to segregated Roma can be sustained by a poor understanding of their conditions and practices, and not-aligned organizational features. This can in turn lead to the Roma using healthcare services less effectively and to further exacerbation of specific health problems in this group. Lastly, the thesis adds that both pathways can be driven by an omnipresence of a specific form of racism targeting Roma: antigypsyism. In sum, the thesis suggests that to better understand and tackle inequalities concerning Roma, more focus is needed on the specific exposure pathways that we identified and on the fundamental underlying role of racism. Simultaneously, it shows that use of ethnographic tools within such research can be productive.

Dissertation: http://hdl.handle.net/11370/64318b4a-7340-44d1-9114-31d8b30a16f8