The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health – IJERPH (ISSN 1660-4601, IF 2.035) is currently running a Special Issue entitled “Roma Health”. Our colleague, Assoc. Prof. Jitse P. van Dijk, of the Department of Community and Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, (The Netherlands), is serving as Guest Editor for this issue. Studies might focus on comparisons, history, natural experiments, (social) epidemiology, and on time-trend analyses with an interested in the health outcomes within all of these approaches.

For further reading, please follow the link to the Special Issue Website here.

The submission deadline is 15 December 2017. Manuscript might be sent now or up until the deadline. Submitted papers should not be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Authors are also encouraged to send a short abstract or tentative title to the Editorial Office in advance (ijerph@mdpi.com).

Our colleagues Jaroslava Kopčáková, Michaela Pálfiová, Eva Čepová and Miriama Lacková Rebičová activily participated on 26th of April 2017 on the European No Elevators Day event organized at the Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Šafárik University with the station on the 10th floor called “Healthy soul in a healthy body” (“Mens sana in corpore sano”).

European No Elevators Day promotes a simple way to integrate physical activity into everyday life. Use the stairs instead of the elevator and be healthier and more satisfied.

Symbolically, elevators will be closed as part of the NowWeMove campaign promoting population mobility. On each of the ten floors of Faculty of Medicine P.J. Šafárik University building will be prepared stations with guiding information and activities related to healthy/active lifestyle.

Our colleague, Jaroslava Kopcakova, attended on 19.-20. of April 2017 a meeting in Bratislava “Let’s talk more – youth participation and interdepartmental cooperation”.

The aim of the working meeting was to set up effective interdepartmental cooperation in the development of state youth policy. The meeting featured a testing of proven working methods in a group consisting of sector experts, youth organizations and young people. The project builds on the work of the interdepartmental working group of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of the Slovak Republic for the state youth policy, its outcomes and recommendations will be used in the next work of the Youth Department of the Ministry of Education and Youth and the Youth Strategy of the Slovak Republic for 2014-2020.

Our collegues, prof. Madarasová Gecková, assoc. prof. Zuzana Dankulincová and dr. Lucia Bosáková attended on 25.-26. of April a working meeting organized by the WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development in Venice in order to discuss (1) the objectives and organization of a second expert meeting on the Health Equity Status Report in Košice (July 2017), which, in cooperation with the WHO European Office for Investment For Health and Development, will be organized by members of the Department of Health Psychology, Faculty od Medicine UPJŠ; (2) the upcoming appointment of the Department of Health Psychology for the WHO Collaborating Center.

Expertize of OUSHI team in research of individual patients’ experience with illness (Database of Individual Patients’ Experiences DIPEx) was used via visit of dr. Lucie Kluzová Kračmárová and her active participation in one of the subjects about Clinical aspects from patients’ perspective from university interdisciplinary education courses on 21st of April at the Department of Health Psychology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice.

Our collaboration with Palacky University in Olomouc and Presov University in Presov resulted in recently published paper “Is Spiritual Well-Being Among Adolescents Associated with a Lower Level of Bullying Behaviour? The Mediating Effect of Perceived Bullying Behaviour of Peers” by Dutkova K., Holubcikova J., Kravcova M., Babincak P., Tavel P., Madarasova Geckova A. in Journal of Religion and Health.

We found that adolescents who reported a higher level of spiritual well-being were at lower risk to bully others. These relationships were partially mediated by perceived norms about the bullying behaviour of schoolmates.

Data from the HBSC study has been used in many analyses of the social determinants of mental well-being among children and young people. To coincide with World Health Day 2017 our colleagues from HBSC coordination center prepared a round-up of the latest peer-reviewed publications on this topic: World Health Day: HBSC mental health research round-up

For more information on World Health Day 2017, visit the WHO campaign page.

Following the art exhibition presenting the work of contemporary artist and authors suffering by symptoms of autistic spectrum the conference took place in April 7th, 2017 in Slovak Centre of Scientific and Technical Information, Bratislava, Slovakia. Our colleague, Andrea Madarasova Geckova were one of the invited speakers on this event. More information could be found:

Event: https://allevents.in/bratislava/osamel%C3%AD-konferencia/1330468066991584

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUf5RlBMZ3Y&feature=share

Photo: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10208719937139128&set=pcb.10208720022741268&type=3&theater