On January 26.-27. 2026, our PhD students Katarína Csonková and Ľubica Pamulová participated in the 25th QaK conference – “25 years, one goal: lived experiences from first hand” in Olomouc. They presented the first findings from our qualitative research within the framework of the upcoming DIPEx modules Adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems in the care system – the perspective of adolescents and parents.

More information about the conference can be found here https://qak.upol.cz/

Our colleague Daniela Filakovska participated in the RIVER-EU consortium meeting, held within the pre-conference programme of the European Public Health Conference (EPH) in Helsinki last week. The meeting brought together partners from across Europe to review progress and align next steps toward the project’s goal of advancing vaccination equity in underserved communities. Discussions were insightful and highly productive, showcasing new evidence from pilot sites, practical approaches to engaging communities and healthcare providers, and plans for sustaining practical components beyond the project period. The consortium meeting was followed by a RIVER-EU workshop, where partners shared implementation experiences, tools, and lessons learned.

She also took part in a roundtable at the European Public Health Conference titled “Implementation of tailored interventions for vaccine uptake: Engaging underserved communities,” serving as a panellist, sharing lessons learned from implementing a tailored intervention to increase HPV vaccination among adolescents in marginalised Roma communities in Slovakia within the RIVER-EU project. The discussion brought together colleagues from several European countries (RIVER-EU consortium) to compare practical experiences—what worked, what needed adapting on the ground, and how trusted intermediaries can bridge gaps between communities and healthcare providers.

The HBSC team is once again visiting schools across western, central, and eastern Slovakia. Students will take part in our international survey by completing a questionnaire about their health and everyday life. Their answers will help us better understand how young people live, feel, and stay healthy in today’s world.

We’re thrilled that among them is Prof. Zuzana Gdovinová, MD, CSc., FESO, FEAN, who received the Public Choice Award, winning with an impressive lead in the number of public votes. Our institute has been collaborating with Professor Gdovinová and her team at the Neurology Clinic for several years, mainly focusing on research into sleep disorders associated with excessive daytime sleepiness. Our joint efforts have already resulted in several scientific publications on narcolepsy. The most recent one — where our team contributed to statistical analyses and methodological accuracy — explores cognitive recovery in patients after stroke: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590142725000059?via%3Dihub

Our head of department, Prof. Andrea Madarasová Gecková, PhD., also attended the event. She herself was among the ESET Award laureates in 2022. During the ceremony, she supported her colleagues and emphasized the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration between scientists and clinicians across different fields of research in Slovakia.

Congratulations to all the awardees. We look forward to continuing our collaboration in the future. 

The mission of the Global Observatory for Physical Activity is to monitor physical activity surveillance, research, and policy worldwide, with the ultimate goal of reducing the global burden of mortality and morbidity caused by physical inactivity.

In 2015, GoPA! produced the first set of physical activity profiles (“Country Cards”) for 139 countries worldwide. In 2021, the Second Set was launched, expanding coverage to 164 countries. Now, in 2025, GoPA! is releasing the Third Set of Country Cards, with the most up-to-date data on physical activity surveillance, policy, and research capacity worldwide. Today, 186 countries have local representatives actively engaged in the GoPA! network and Slovakia is a part with a country contact person Jaroslava Kopcakova.

GoPA! has been working closely with many of country contacts since November 2023 on the development of the Third edition of the Country Cards. This global system aims to monitor progress in physical activity across three key areas: surveillance, research, and policy.

The Third edition of GoPA! Country Cards was officially launched and is avalaible at: https://new.globalphysicalactivityobservatory.com/

All country cards   for Slovak Republic are avalaible here: https://new.globalphysicalactivityobservatory.com/card-2/?country=SK

The in-person launch was followed the Virtual launches, connecting participants from every region to celebrate a historic joint moment for our GoPA! community. 

On October 2–3, 2025, our PhD student Mária Lesičková participated in the Digitally Safe School conference, held in Bratislava as part of the national project Digital Transformation of Education and Schools (DiTEdu).

As a member of the prevention and digital well-being team within the DiTEdu project, she facilitated practical workshops for school digital coordinators focused on promoting the healthy and safe use of digital technologies and strengthening the resilience of school communities against online risks.

The conference will take place again on October 20–21 in the High Tatras, where she will continue to facilitate workshops as part of the prevention and digital well-being team.

From 26 till 29 August 2025, our PhD students Maryna Fedorenko and Lubica Pamulova met with other prominent researchers in the field of health psychology on the 39th annual conference of European Health Psychology Society in Groningen, The Netherlands.

They were invited to share their knowledge via poster presentations on latest findings from HBSC, DIPEx and Care4Youth studies.

We are proud that our colleague, professor Andrea Madarasová Gecková, was an invited speaker at the Pohoda Festival 2025. In her talk titled “Zraniteľnosť mladých v online svete” (“The Vulnerability of Young People in the Online World”), she addressed the important and timely issue of how the digital environment impacts youth mental health and wellbeing.

The meeting of the network DIPEx International, 2 – 6 June in Tromso and Sommaroy, Norway, is over and we are glad that we could be a part of it. We started with two keynote lectures by Lucia Bosakova and Daniela Filakovska within conference “Tell me your story… Qualitative approaches to health and indigenous research” and continued during DIPEx international meeting where Jan Hlodak shared our first experience with interviews with dialysed patients.

Thank you for the great presentation, inspiring conversations and wonderful feedback. We look forward to see you all again next year!

Topic: Accessibility and applicability of e-Health and m-Health technologies in clinical care,

Supervisor: prof. Andrea Madarasová Gecková PhD.

More information about research area: https://coherentsite.com/digital-health/