On the 19th of September 2018 our colleague, Petr Baďura, 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 “Physical activity, screen-based activities and their potential determinants: Active living during adolescence” was defended in the presence of the College of Deans and the PhD Examining Committee. More information about defence ceremony might be found here.

Leisure time represents a large portion of adolescents’ time budgets, and the ways it is spent substantially determines their lifestyle and health-related behaviours. Most research on leisure, and organized activities in particular, has thus far been conducted in the USA and Canada. Studies from European countries on this topic are scarce. Therefore, this thesis aimed to examine the associations of adolescents’ participation in organized leisure-time activities (OLTA) and unstructured activities (UA) with health- and school-related outcomes, using a large representative sample of Czech adolescents who participated in the international Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. OLTA participants were more likely to report enhanced physical and mental health and good school functioning than non-participants. Moreover, participation in OLTA was associated with lower levels of substance use, especially in girls. Otherwise, the associations mostly held for both genders across all age categories (11-, 13- and 15-year-olds) surveyed, even after adjustment for socioeconomic status. However, they varied somewhat by pattern of OLTA participation; e.g. we observed differences in health- and school-related outcomes, with outcomes being best for those participating in the arts. Regarding UA, we found that those involved in unsupervised UA had higher rates of adverse health-behaviours and poor school performance than those who were not involved in such UA. Furthermore, those engaging only in UA were more likely to partake in adverse health behaviours and to do worse at school than those who participated in any OLTA concurrently.

On the 19th of September 2018 our colleague, Jaroslava Kopčáková, 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 “Physical activity, screen-based activities and their potential determinants: Active living during adolescence” was defended in the presence of the College of Deans and the PhD Examining Committee. More information about defence ceremony might be found here.

Healthy active living during adolescence supports optimal health and growth of the individual. Physical activity and screen-based activities are important aspects of health behaviour of adolescents. We found that adolescents reported relatively little physical activity and rather many screen-based activities. However, both types of behaviour are not merely opposite to each other, i.e. at the same time adolescents can be physically active and still have a high rate of screen-based activities. Physical activity and screen-based activities in adolescence were associated with potential determinants on several levels based on the socio-ecological model. This started with the intrapersonal level (gender-specific role of body image and motives for physical activity), next the perceived environment (positive influence of the perception of the environment as activity-friendly) and finally the environmental setting of behaviour (degree of urbanization, some accessibility to sports facilities and active breaks). A better understanding of the potential determinants associated with physical activity and screen-based activities in adolescents are therefore essential for prevention and health promotion.

Our findings indicate that the ecological model of active living provides a useful theoretical framework for further research into the determinants of physical activity and screen-based activities. In addition, our findings suggest that adolescents can be physically active and still sedentary at the same time. Understanding why adolescents are active or inactive in their life could significantly contribute to improved health-promoting interventions. By adequately addressing these relatively new challenges, much can be gained for adolescent public health.

Andrea Madarasova Geckova and Zuzana Dankulincova met on the 19th of September with dr. Danielle Jansen at the University of Groningen, Netherlands discussing their ongoing collaboration on several projects in the field of vulnerable adolescents with emotional and behavioural problems as a part of Care4Youth project.

HBSC Fitness team, prof. Andrea Madarasova Geckova and dr. Peter Bakalar visited on 12th and 13th of September 2018 our collegues  assoc. prof. Dagmar Sigmundova and dr. Frantisek Chmelik, in BALUO – Faculty of Physical Culture, Palacky University in Olomouc.  Main aim of this meeting was consultation on analytical strategy for antropometric and fitness data collected within HBSC survey among school-aged children.

Our colleagues, Lucia Bosakova, Zuzana Dankulincova, Daniela Husarova, Miriama Lackova Rebicova and Katerina Paclikova presented latest findings from Care4Youth and HBSC study at the symposium organised at Psychiatric clinic in Hran on 7th and 8th of September.

Our colleagues Daniela Filakovska and Andrej Belak participated at  The 2018 Annual Meeting of the Gypsy Lore Society and Conference on Gypsy/Romani Studies which was held in Bucharest, Romania, September 4th to 8th, 2018.

Andrej Belák presented Collaborative Health-Needs Assessment and Health-Mediation Evaluation in Marginalized Roma Communities in Slovakia: Lessons Learned upon Methodology Development. Daniela Filakovská presented Introducing the Position of Roma Health Mediators into Hospitals as Part of the National Strategy for Roma Integration in Slovakia.

On the 28th of August our colleagues, Eva Čepová (Thesis entitled Conceptualization and measurement of health literacy and its utilization in public health) and Michaela Mrázová (Thesis entitled  The influence of selected risk and protective factors on the healthy development of adolescents with emotional and behavioral problems) have been awarded a PhD degree in public health at the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. Congratulations!!!

Please find the first newsletter of the IMPACCT project attached. Do you want to know about our latest activities and plans for the future? Click on the link and download our newsletter http://healthliteracycentre.eu/1st-impacct-newsletter/.

The main objective of IMPACCT (IMproving PAtient-centered Communication Competences) is “to improve the relevance and quality of education of medical and nursing students in Europe through the development, implementation, evaluation and dissemination of an evidence-based Health Literacy Educational Program. The educational program will consist of a set of about 20 learning units. Taken together, these units reflect the fact that a comprehensive approach is needed to tackle health literacy problems. To enhance the health and well-being of people with low health literacy, students need a wide range of health literacy competences related to clinical competences (e.g. diagnosing among people with low health literacy), but also competences for communication, collaboration, leadership or quality assurance, to prevent health literacy related problems. Watch the short video below to get a well rounded impression of the project.

Learn more about the IMPACCT project our colleagues  Andrea Madarasova Geckova, Ivana Skoumalova and Peter Kolarcik are involved in at http://healthliteracycentre.eu/impacct/ or check out the leaflet below and join the newsletter here!

From 21 till 25 August 2018, our colleagues Zuzana Dankulincova, Miriama Lackova Rebicova, Jaroslava Mackova,  Laura Urbanova and Peter Kolarcik met with other prominent researchers in the field of health psychology on the 32nd annual conference of European Health Psychology Society in Galway, Ireland. They were invited to share their knowledge via five poster presentations on latest findings from Care4Youth, HBSC and Health literacy studies.