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"Gabrovec, Branko"
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Preventing Frailty Through Healthy Environments: The Slovenian Systemic Pre-Frailty Project
2025
As society ages, there is a growing concern about the comfort and health of elderly people. Although populations around the world, including Slovenia, are rapidly aging, evidence that increasing longevity is being accompanied by an extended period of good health is scarce. An increasing number of older adults live with chronic diseases, functional limitations, or frailty. In 2025, Slovenia launched the project Systemic Approach to Frailty with a Focus on Pre-Frailty for Healthy and Hight-Quality Ageing, within the European Cohesion Policy Programme 2021–2027, aiming to address frailty through multidimensional and community-based interventions. In addition to presenting the project framework, this paper provides an analytical preliminary review of existing literature, critically reflecting on research gaps in the field. The main aim of this paper is to explore the possibilities for creating healthy living environments that support the prevention and management of frailty. The project’s core innovation lies in the integration of public health principles into urban planning and design through a structured, community-based approach and the use of the Living Environmental Assessment (OBO) Tool. This tool enables urban planners, municipalities, and local communities to collaboratively evaluate and co-design living environments (e.g., optimizing walkability, green space access, barrier-free design, and social amenities) to build resilience and independence among older adults. Designing inclusive, accessible, and health-promoting environments can help to prevent frailty and improve well-being across all age groups.
Journal Article
Architectural Evaluation of Healthcare Facilities: A Comprehensive Review and Implications for Building Design
2023
The architectural design of healthcare institutions impacts patient experience and health outcomes. Facing challenges like demographic aging and evolving treatments, this study reviewed fourteen key publications on healthcare architecture. The insights gained have highlighted the need for qualitative methods to understand these environments. An integrated healthcare architecture framework (IHAF) was developed, integrating architectural guidelines, user experience, and sustainability. The IHAF emphasizes inclusive design, adaptability, patient-centricity, and staff well-being, focusing on eco-friendly practices and green spaces in healthcare facilities. Advocating a multidisciplinary design approach, the IHAF aims to create functional, sustainable, patient-focused environments. This research identifies the need for qualitative methods unique to the Slovenian healthcare context. It aims to inform architectural solutions for healthcare institutions, highlighting the role of design in optimal patient care and well-being.
Journal Article
Resilience and social support as protective factors against suicidal ideation among tertiary students during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study
2024
Background
Suicidal ideation is a depression symptom which represents a key (cognitive) component of suicidality and plays an important role in suicide risk detection, intervention, and prevention. Despite existing research showing the importance of certain factors of depression symptoms and suicidal ideation, less is known about the interaction between the various risk and protective factors. The aim of the study was to examine whether living conditions characteristics and personal circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic predicted the presence of depression symptoms and suicidal ideation among tertiary students and whether resilience and social support can mitigate the detrimental effects of difficult life circumstances.
Method
A large online cross-sectional study was conducted in March 2021 among 4,645 Slovenian tertiary students. Hierarchical multiple regression and hierarchical logistic regression methods were used to assess and compare the effect of life circumstances variables, as opposed to resilience and social support, on depression symptoms and suicidal ideation.
Results
Female gender, single relationship status, living alone, a higher degree of household conflict, having a history of mental illness and chronic disease diagnosis were significant predictors of depression scores. All but gender were also predictors of suicidal ideation. Household conflict and a history of mental illness were the factors showing the strongest effect in both cases. On the other hand, social support and, in particular, resilience proved to be strong protective factors against depression symptoms and suicidal ideation. After accounting for one’s resilience and social support, the explained variance in depression scores was more than doubled, while the harmful effect of household conflict and history of mental illness significantly decreased.
Conclusions
The findings stress the importance of one’s resilience and social support and explain why some people manage to maintain mental well-being despite finding themselves in difficult life circumstances, which was the case for many tertiary students during the COVID-19 pandemic. These insights may inform preventive efforts against developing suicidal ideation and may be used as support for the design and implementation of interventions for improving resilience and social support from childhood onward.
Journal Article
Influence of Forced Online Distance Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perceived Stress of Postsecondary Students: Cross-sectional Study
2022
One of the most significant changes in the majority of postsecondary educational institutions was the closure of those institutions and the shift of educational activities to online distance learning formats as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Closure combined with forced online distance education (FODE) was a cure with many side effects, 1 of them being the effect on students' mental health and, more specifically, levels of stress. Due to the novelty of the situation, there have been no studies so far designed to link satisfaction with online study, feelings toward the study obligations, and stress among students.
The aim of the study is to assess the perceived stress of Slovenian postsecondary students in order to identify the online study-related factors affecting or acting as a covariate during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Data collection was conducted through a self-reported survey as part of a large cross-sectional study based on data collected from postsecondary students from a number of higher educational institutions. The random sample consisted of 4455 individuals. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), Satisfaction with Online Study Scale (SAT-5), and Feelings Towards Study Obligations Scale (FETSOS) were used to assess the constructs and the relations observed within the study.
The results indicate that more than half of all respondents reported high levels of stress. The difference in the reported levels of perceived stress between genders were statistically significant (N=4454, F
=56.719, P<.001, Cohen d=0.35). Overall, the results suggest that a decline in the motivation to study, the quality of internet and mobile connections, and the presence of distracting factors in the study space were the 3 main factors related to the students' negative emotions as associated with the timeliness, performance, and quality of the study obligations. Furthermore, the results show that the level of satisfaction with online study affected stress such that the higher the satisfaction, the lower the stress. Moreover, the more positive feelings connected with the timeliness, performance, and quality of the study obligations that the students felt, the more satisfaction they reported with online study and, thus indirectly, lower stress and less negative feelings.
The findings of this study call for implementing structures and measures targeted at stress reduction, working conditions, and pedagogy with regard to FODE.
Journal Article
The influence of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 on vaccination hesitancy among postsecondary students
2022
The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 on vaccination hesitancy among Slovenian postsecondary students. A cross-sectional study using a set of previously tested instruments and ad hoc questions created by the authors was chosen as the method to gain insight into various health and sociodemographic aspects of Slovenian postsecondary students affected by the COVID-19-induced closures and suspensions of educational activities at tertiary educational institutions (N = 5999). Overall, 39.7% of participating students expressed an intention to get vaccinated at the first possible opportunity, whereas 29.2% expressed no intent to do so. The highest vaccine hesitancy was observed among prospective teachers (50.3%) and the lowest among prospective physicians (5,7%). When examining the role of anxiety and fear of COVID-19 on the Slovenian postsecondary students’ intentions to get vaccinated the results of logistic regression showed that only fear of COVID-19 played a mild and significant role.
Journal Article
Three measures of internet use, social media use and video game playing as predictors of insomnia during the pandemic among students
2024
Existing research indicates that the relationship between digital technology use and insomnia can largely depend on which digital technology measure and which insomnia measure is considered. Data on 4261 Slovenian tertiary students was gathered through an online survey in February 2021, which included measures of depression and insomnia symptoms, as well as measures of internet, social media and video game use divided into three measurement levels (use, duration of use, addictive use). Regression analysis revealed an apparent effect of measurement level, where addictive use measures consistently outperformed other technology use measures in predicting insomnia. Regardless of measurement level, social media use seems to produce more risk for insomnia, compared to playing video games or general internet use for leisure purposes. Importantly, a single measure of depression symptoms explained more variance in insomnia than the nine measures of digital technology use combined, meaning that the effect of digital technology on sleep should not be overstated. Most of the effect of social media use on insomnia may in fact be explained by understanding users' depression symptoms. In case of gaming, a larger part of its effect on insomnia is independent of depression symptoms.
Journal Article
Non-Medical Use of Novel Synthetic Opioids: A New Challenge to Public Health
by
M. Carli
,
Angelo Giovanni Icro Maremmani
,
Matteo Pacini
in
Alternative approaches
,
Analgesics, Opioid
,
Analgesics, Opioid - chemical synthesis
2019
Background: In the last decade there has been a progressive increase in the use of new psychoactive substances (NPSs) that are not yet under international control. In particular, novel synthetic opioids (NSOs) have reappeared on the recreational drug market in the last few years. As a result, the use of NSOs has increased rapidly. This poses an emerging and demanding challenge to public health. Aim: To raise awareness among clinicians and other professionals about NPSs, especially NSOs, to summarize current knowledge about pharmacological properties, forms of NSO on the market, pattern of use, effects and consequences of use. Methods: An electronic search was carried out on the Medline/PubMed and Google Scholar databases to find selected search terms. Results: Some NPSs are already controlled, while others can be legally sold directly on the drug market (mainly via internet, less so by drug dealers) or be used as precursors for the synthesis of other designer drugs that mimic the psychoactive effects of controlled substances. Potential side-effects of NSOs include miosis, sedation, respiratory depression, hypothermia, inhibition of gastrointestinal propulsion, death (from opioid overdose). Conclusions: The severity of the opioid crisis has intensified with the introduction of highly potent NSOs on the drug market. As long as addicts are dying from overdose or similar causes, there is something more constructive to do than waiting for addicts to overdose on heroin at a place located near a remedy, as if to say, within reach of naloxone.
Journal Article
Management of frailty at individual level – clinical management: Systematic literature review
by
Gabrovec, Branko
,
Veninšek, Gregor
in
Cognitive ability
,
comprehensive geriatric assessment
,
Dietary supplements
2018
To deliver quality management of a frail individual, a clinician should understand the concept of frailty, be aware of its epidemiology and be able to screen for frailty and assess it when it is present, and, finally, to recommend successful interventions.
A systematic literature search was conducted in the following databases: PubMed, Cochrane, Embase, Cinahl and UpToDate. The criterion in selecting the literature was that articles were published in the period from 2002 to 2017. From 67432 initial hits, 27 publications were selected.
Useful interventions to address frailty are supplementation of vitamin D, proper nutrition, multicomponent training, home-based physiotherapy and comprehensive geriatric assessment, particularly when performed in geriatric wards.
Comprehensive geriatric assessment is an effective way to decrease frailty status especially when performed in geriatric wards. Multicomponent physical training and multidimensional interventions (physical training, nutrition, vitamin D supplementation and cognitive training) are effective measures to reduce frailty.
Journal Article