Participants In Health Care System Research Articles

Public trust and media influence on anxiety and depression levels among skilled workers during the COVID-19 outbreak in Serbia

Background/Aim. Along with the great impact of 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on physical health, social functioning, and economy, this public health emergency has significant impact on mental health of people as well. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of outbreak-related information and public trust in the health system and preventive measures during the COVID-19 outbreak in Serbia in 2020 on levels of anxiety and depression in education, army and healthcare professionals. Methods. An anonymous questionnaire was disseminated to skilled professionals working in fields of education, army, and healthcare. The questionnaire included the Beck Anxiety Inventory, Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale, as well as the section assessing the perceived disturbance by the outbreak-related information and the trust of participants in healthcare system and preventive measures proposed by the crisis team. Results. Out of 110 subjects enrolled in this study (mean age 35.25 ? 9.23 years), 59.1% were women. Among healthcare workers, the frequency of perceiving outbreak-related information available in public media as disturbing, as well as the average level of anxiety, were higher compared to the group of army professionals (p < 0.05). Women also perceived outbreak-related information available in public media as disturbing in a higher percentage compared to men (p < 0.01), and had higher levels of anxiety (p = 0.01) and depression (p < 0.05). The lack of public trust was associated with higher levels of depression, and the perception of outbreak-related information as disturbing with higher levels of both anxiety and depression. Conclusion. Significant perception of outbreak-related information as disturbing among healthcare workers, as well as the lack of trust in healthcare system and preventive measures proposed by the crisis team are important factors influencing the mental state. This finding has the guiding purpose for competent institutions to make efforts to increase public trust, as one of the important preventive measures, in order to preserve and improve the mental well-being of the population in outbreak conditions.

Reprise: Case Management in Substance Use Services in the Age of the Affordable Care Act

This article asserts that case management, particularly in the area of substance use, be promoted as an integral tool to complement the integrated care models put forth under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). The potential expansion of addictions services under the ACA reaffirms and elevates the importance of case management in contemporary systems of care. The article briefly reintroduces the rationale for the continuation and expansion of case management in substance use intervention programs and discusses the efficacy of this service based on available research. Given the expertise social workers have in case management, social work leaders will be critical participants in health care system and policy discussions to ensure the enactment of best practices in case management in substance use services.

The Health Policy Agenda-Reply

In Reply.— The letter accurately identifies as one of key Health Policy Agenda themes concept that the success of health care system depends on... responsibilities of key participants, including consumers. However, there is much more than one recommendation dealing with this. There are four additional recommendations (numbers 59, 84, 87, and 145) that specifically address importance of a healthy life-style and 11 others (numbers 79 to 83, 85, 86, 88 to 90, and 98) that outline roles of business, government, professions, third-party payers, health educators, and private organizations in overall area of health promotion and disease prevention. One of key concepts inherent in Health Policy Agenda is that all of participants in health care system must clearly understand and actively pursue their respective roles and responsibilities if system is to work. Nowhere is this more true than in