Rural Areas In Poland Research Articles

Honorary blood donations in urban and rural areas in Poland

Olejniczak Dominik, Grochowska Ewa, Czerw Aleksandra, Juszczyk Grzegorz, Religioni Urszula, Duda-Zalewska Aneta, Staniszewska Anna, Mikos Marcin. Honorary blood donations in urban and rural areas in Poland. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2015;5(6):65 -72. ISSN 2391-8306. DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18278 http://ojs.ukw.edu.pl/index.php/johs/article/view/2015%3B5%286%29%3A65-72 https://pbn.nauka.gov.pl/works/563208 http://dx.doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18278 Formerly Journal of Health Sciences. ISSN 1429-9623 / 2300-665X. Archives 2011 – 2014 http://journal.rsw.edu.pl/index.php/JHS/issue/archive Deklaracja. Specyfika i zawartośc merytoryczna czasopisma nie ulega zmianie. Zgodnie z informacją MNiSW z dnia 2 czerwca 2014 r., ze w roku 2014 nie bedzie przeprowadzana ocena czasopism naukowych; czasopismo o zmienionym tytule otrzymuje tyle samo punktow co na wykazie czasopism naukowych z dnia 31 grudnia 2014 r. The journal has had 5 points in Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Poland parametric evaluation. Part B item 1089. (31.12.2014). © The Author (s) 2015; This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland and Radom University in Radom, Poland Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited. The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper. Received: 20.04.2015. Revised 28.05.2015. Accepted: 04.06.2015. Honorary blood donations in urban and rural areas in Poland Dominik Olejniczak 1 , Ewa Grochowska 1 , Aleksandra Czerw 1 , Grzegorz Juszczyk 1 , Urszula Religioni 1 , Aneta Duda-Zalewska 1 , Anna Staniszewska 2 , Marcin Mikos 3 1 Department of Public Health, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland 2 Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland 3 Institute of Public Health, Jagiellonian University Medical College, Cracow, Poland, e-mail address of correspondence: ola_czerw@wp.pl Abstract Aim The main purpose of the study was to compare blood donation awareness among students residing in urban and rural areas. Subject and methods The research tool was an anonymous, original questionnaire designed for the purpose of the study. The questionnaire was distributed among 439 people. In the first stage, authors selected randomly two fields of study at Medical University of Warsaw. Next, three years of study were randomly selected in these two chosen fields. Results Nearly 40% of the students admitted that they have donated blood or other compounds. There is statistically significant relation (p=0.0000, Fi=0.25) between blood donation and place of residence of respondents. Students living in cities more seldom showed they have donated blood or other compound. The most common reason that impels students to donate blood is the desire to help another human being. Conclusions The level of students' knowledge about blood donations issue is not good enough. It is recommended to introduce intensive information campaigns about the need of blood donation, for example in the form of social campaigns. Key words: blood donations, donor, blood transfusion, health promotion.

Peripheral Rural Areas around Poznań and Their Value Measured with Economic Indicators

In the era of consumption — appropriation of rural areas located in the metropolitan region of Poznań it seems reasonable to estimate their material value. According to authors of publications on environmental services: Mizgajski, Lowicki, and authors discussing problems of sustainable development of rural areas in Poland, such as Kistowski, Matczak, and Myga-Piątek, the economic value of the natural environment is important from the point of view of geographical environment management, both at the local and regional level. The example of peripheral areas in the metropolitan region of Poznań serves to allow the authors of this study to present the approach of preparation of an economic card for the efficiency of agricultural space. The research objective was to present an evaluation of economic opportunities achievable with different classes of soils that are subject to subsequent transformations to a non-agricultural land use. The estimation of economic values based on indicators of costs and income from 1 ha of arable land, and their comparison to the indicators included in projections of financial results made for local spatial development plans allow determination of the actual value of rural areas which, as a result of suburbanization, were consumed by residential and economic stimulation.

Rural development programme in Poland, the Czech Republic and Austria

For several reasons, rural areas in Poland developed much more slowly than urban areas, and to a large extent, they have been neglected. The situation was much improved after Poland’s accession to the EU, with continuous flow of funds for the development of agriculture. These actions facilitated faster development of such areas, while the structure of the latter has improved. The current instrument for the implementation of the EU policy for rural areas, operating within the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy, is the Rural Development Programme for the years 2007–2013 (RDP 2007–2013). The present document contains a comparative analysis of the Rural Development Programme 2007–2013 as implemented within three states, namely: Poland, Austria, and the Czech Republic. General conditions and limits to the granted financial assistance have been determined in the EU regulations, therefore they can not differ between Poland, the Czech Republic, and Austria. What differs, however, is the projects and investment tasks implemented within particular measures. In the article, the aforementioned countries have been compared in terms of rural areas, and in terms of measures implemented within the Rural Development Programme in each of them. It has been noted that there have been 44 measures implemented within the Rural Development Programme 2007–2013, while only 19 of these are implemented within thematic axis 2 – improving the environment and countryside. Poland is implementing 26 measures in total, the Czech Republic is implementing 32, and Austria – 31. The highest amount of financing per country’s area went to Austria, and the lowest – to the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic possesses the most favourable structure of the rural areas, while Poland possesses the least favourable structure thereof. In the present work, the method of logical and descriptive analysis was employed, based on the Polish and international subject literature.

Znaczenie funkcji bibliotek w środowisku wiejskim w Polsce

Public libraries in Poland are diversified. Some are repositories of knowledge allowing for in-depth study with vast and continually updated resources. The average citizen is served by a large network of libraries supported by local governments. Their basic task is to supply 'books to read' and to conduct educational-cultural activity. The aim of this study was to determine the significance of functions that libraries perform in the rural environment of Poland. The assessment was made on the basis of an analysis of the Central Statistical Office (GUS) data and reports derived from the Libraries Development Programme. This programme has been implemented in Poland since 2009 by the Foundation for the Development of Information Society and the Polish-American Liberty Foundation, which is a partner of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in a venture helping Polish public libraries with access to computers, the Internet and training courses. It was assumed that libraries serving rural population were those located in villages and towns of up to 20 thous. inhabitants. In Poland the accessibility of libraries as measured by the population number per library continues to decline, both in towns and rural areas. In 2002 this index amounted to 2,118, opposed to 2,555 in 2013. Two factors are responsible: a drop in the number of libraries and a slight increase in the population living in rural areas. There is no doubt that preserving a network of libraries in rural areas in Poland is necessary. Local governments are not generous patrons of libraries; on the contrary, they often liquidate them to reduce the costs of commune operation. Rural libraries prefer the educational function, thus replacing the school education system, but this takes place at the cost of their cultural functions. The model of the rural library as a centre of all kinds of information where one can learn practically everything – favoured in the western states – is still far from popular in Poland.

Kierunki specjalizacji funkcjonalnej obszarów wiejskich województwa lubelskiego w świetle lokalnych uwarunkowań

Due to the socio-economic transformation, rural areas in Poland faced new difficulties and challenges. In this article, favorable and adverse factors for development of rural areas in the Lubelskie Voivodeship are presented (among others: unfavorable demographic conditions, low quality of human resources, peripheral localization, mono-functionality, location in the religious and cultural borderland). Taking into consideration all the factors mentioned above, areas with various functional specialization (functional areas) have been determined, e.g. with residential, tourism and recreation, service and agricultural functions.

Zmiany struktury funkcjonalnej gmin wiejskich w północnej części Polski (analiza porównawcza lat 1988 i 2012)

The issue of transformation in the functional structure of rural areas in Poland has been the subject of numerous studies covering both the research concerning entire country as well as selected regions. This article is an attempt to show the functional changes of rural municipalities in northern Poland, which took place in the period between 1988 and 2012. The analysis covered rural municipalities of the Warminsko-mazurskie, Pomorskie, Kujawsko-Pomorskie and Zachodniopomorskie Voivodeships. The condition of functional development of rural areas of northern Poland in 1988 was presented basing on the functional and spatial classification applied by W. Stola. In order to analyze the functional and spatial changes in the rural areas of northern Poland in 2012, data from the Central Statistical Office was used. Classification of functional areas on a municipal scale was implemented incorporating a set of diagnostic features classifying a given municipality to one of the 5 functional types referring to the classification of 1988. Results of the analysis prove that spatial and functional structure of rural areas in northern Poland is becoming more differentiated. Rural areas are increasingly evolving into multifunctional areas – in which apart from the agricultural function - non-agricultural activities are developing. However, it is very important that the multifunctional development would contribute to improving living conditions of rural population, at the same time providing protection of natural and cultural landscape.

Efficiency of EU financial support policy for development of rural entrepreneurship in Poland

The main research objective was to assess the efficiency and effectiveness, in some theoretical approaches considered as a type of efficiency, of EU financial support affecting the entrepreneurship development in rural areas of Poland. Descriptive and comparative analysis of basic statistics and Gini coefficient as well as the econometric model of absolute beta convergence were applied as e research methods. The analysis utilised the data from Central Statistical Office, Local Data Bank, for 2004-2013 for 1,529 rural counties. General conclusion of the paper is that EU financial support had a positive and statistically significant impact on local absolute beta convergence. Moreover, the analyses confirmed that the higher level of support from the EU budget accelerates an increase in the number of private enterprises, micro-enterprises and the number of the employees. It also slows down the processes of growth in the number of the unemployed. However this is the short-time effect.

Sustainable Rural Development Policy in Poland – Environmental Aspects

Abstract The author discusses issues of sustainable development in rural areas in Poland from the perspective of natural resources management. Sustainable development of rural areas is the way of managing which links economic, social and ethical principles with ecological safety. This may be reached by proper management, directed on cautious usage of ecosystems’ self-controlling mechanisms, with the progress of science and technology. Agriculture in Poland is one of the most important sectors from an economic perspective and its importance is greater in Poland than in other countries in the EU. It has an influence not only on the social and economic situation of the rural population, but also on the natural environment, structure of landscape and biodiversity. From ecological point of view, functions of rural areas are not only being a place for production of food, resources for industry and green energy, but also supplying environmental goods such as protection of biodiversity and influencing air and water quality as well as landscape. The author presents ways to reduce the pressure of agricultural activities on water resources in the region, catchment and farm scale

The Analysis of Conditions and Level of Sustainable Development of Rural Areas in Poland And Germany

The aim of this article is to present the conditions for sustainable development of rural areas in Poland and Germany. The paper attempts to determine the appropriate system of indicators and measures in four dimensions: environmental, economic, spatial and social, that can be used to evaluate sustainable development. The comparative analysis of the sustainability level was based on the correlation analysis. . The high level of sustainable development was observed in rural areas of the zone of direct impact of larger urban agglomerations. The further from the centre of the city, the lower level of development was recorded. The counties showing small differences between the three dimensions (environmental, social and economic) have a higher level of sustainable development. Those showing large differences between the three dimensions have a lower level of balance between the natural, social and economic dimensions. Key Words: sustainable development, rural development measures, Poland, Germany

Grupy producentów rolnych a kapitał społeczny – potencjalne zależności

The paper refers to a discussion of factors stimulating or limiting the process of establishment and development of agricultural producer groups in Poland. The role of social capital in this context is the main focus of attention. Basic links and relations that can occur between different kinds of social capital and producer groups were identified. Moreover, a brief review of literature on the social capital on rural areas in Poland was presented.

Thirty years of evolution of oral health behaviours and dental caries in urban and rural areas in Poland.

34 years ago, children living in rural areas had almost 2 more teeth affected by decay than those living in cities. Environmental differences are being reduced along with Poland's civilization development. The aim of the study is to assess the extent to which the differences in the intensity of caries and oral health behaviours between the urban rural environment have been reduced have been reduced in the past 3 decades. The data from 9 national surveys of 14,338 children aged 12 years and 5,425 adults aged 35-44 who lived in the city and in the countryside were analysed. Mean number of decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth (DMFT) was determined during the examination, as well as oral health behaviours. During the past 3 decades, in the statistical 12-year-old Polish child, tooth decay has been reduced from 7.3 to 3.6 teeth, and the environmental difference between the town and village children is now almost 5 times smaller. A similar trend is observed in children's dental behaviours. Improving the oral health status and levelling of the environmental differences in the population aged 35-44 is much slower than in children. In the last three decades, the level of tooth decay has been reduced by half, but it is still 3 times higher than in other European countries. Environmental differences have been reduced particularly in children. Both the oral health status and urban/rural environment differences in the intensity of tooth decay may be regarded as one of the many measures of Poland's social and civilization development. However, the analysed process is not monotonic; instead, it has some turning points.

Health-Related Physical Fitness, BMI, physical activity and time spent at a computer screen in 6 and 7-year-old children from rural areas in Poland.

The objective of the study was determination of the effect of various forms of physical activity, BMI, and time devoted to computer games on the level of Health-Related Physical Fitness (H-RF) in 6-7-year-old children from Polish rural areas. The study covered 25,816 children aged 6-7: 12,693 girls and 13,123 boys. The evaluations included body height and weight, and 4 H-RF fitness components (trunk strength, explosive leg power, arm strength and flexibility). The BMI was calculated for each child. The Questionnaire directed to parents was designed to collect information concerning the time devoted by children to computer games, spontaneous and additional physical activity. The strength of the relationships between dependent and independent variables was determined using the Spearman's rank correlation (RSp), and the relationship by using the regression analysis. The BMI negatively affected the level of all the H-RF components analysed (p=0.000). The negative effect of computer games revealed itself only with respect to flexibility (p=0.000), explosive leg power (p=0.000) and trunk muscle strength (p=0.000). A positive effect of spontaneous activity was observed for flexibility (p=0.047), explosive leg power (p=0.000), and arm strength (p=0.000). Additional activity showed a positive relationship with trunk muscles strength (p=0.000), and explosive leg power (p=0.000). The results of studies suggest that it is necessary to pay attention to the prevention of diseases related with the risk of obesity and overweight among Polish rural children as early as at pre-school age. There is also a need during education for shaping in these children the awareness of concern about own body, and the need for active participation in various forms of physical activity.

Screening for anthrax occurrence in soil of flooded rural areas in Poland after rainfalls in spring 2010.

Anthrax spores remain viable and infectious in soil for decades. Flood water can percolate towards the surface the spores buried in soil. Moreover, the flood water might transport spores to areas previously unaffected. After the water recedes the spores located on the surface of the ground can be consumed by grazing animals and cause outbreaks of anthrax. Soil samples were collected in areas of Poland most affected by floods in 2010 (Lubelskie, Świętokrzyskie, Podkarpackie and Mazowieckie provinces). After heating with the aim to kill vegetative forms of bacteria, the samples were cultured on PLET agar and the resulted colonies were investigated in terms of motility and presence of anthrax specific chromosomal (SG-749, plcR) and plasmid markers (capB, pagA). In total, 424 spore-forming, aerobically growing isolates were collected from the tested soil samples. Eighty-nine of them were non-motile. All the isolates were negative in PCR for anthrax specific chromosomal and plasmid markers. Spores of B. anthracis that could be related to risk of anthrax outbreaks were not detected in soil samples tested in this study. The negative results presented may not be proof that Poland is country free of anthrax. The results, however, may suggest a relatively low risk of anthrax outbreaks being triggered in the sampled areas.

Study on spatial distribution of horizontal geodetic control points in rural areas

The paper presents the results of research concerning the analysis of spatial distribution of detailed geodetic control points in rural areas in Poland. The analysis takes into consideration the relations between the number of geodetic control points and land cover type (built-up, agricultural, and forest) as well as the effective legal regulations in Poland with regard to the issues. The analysis results were referred to geodetic sections classified by the k-means method with respect to the number of the control points and the built-up, agricultural and forest areas. The research indicates that the number of the geodetic control points in an area depends to the extent of 35 % on the type of land cover (building, agricultural and forest land). Having this in mind, the authors recommend taking the land cover into consideration already in the phase of designing a geodetic control network.

Kapitał ludzki a spójność ekonomiczna obszarów wiejskich w Polsce

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between human capital understood as the knowledge of society and the degree of economic cohesion of rural areas in Poland. Synthetic index based on the 9 measures showing the financial, economic and infrastructure situations in rural areas was constructed to examine the economic cohesion. As a measure of human capital, a proportion of the population with at least secondary education was adopted. The analysis was performed at the level of counties. The study showed that there is a weak or moderate relationship between the studied traits. The coefficient correlation calculated for all counties was only 0.173, and the coefficient of determination was 0.03. In contrast, the correlation coefficient calculated for the number of spatial units reduced by the districts drastically differ from the observed trend was 0.404, and the coefficient of determination was 0.163. This means that the level of economic coherence determine other factors.

Health status of the rural population in Poland

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the health of the elderly, living in rural areas of Poland. The analysis based on a survey “The health status of the Polish population” carried out by the Central Statistical Office (GUS). In order to assess the differences in the health status of the villagers and townsfolk’s we have examined the share of older people living in rural and urban areas in the structure of the whole population. We have also identified the measures of the health status. We have calculated, using the Sullivan method, the value of Healthy Life Expectancy, Disability Free Life Expectancy,.Chronic Disease Life for the Polish rural and urban elderly population. The study has shown, the villagers live shorter in good health (without disability and chronic diseases). Presented study allows to formulate the desirable directions of changes to improve the health status of rural population. This should lead to more effective health care in rural areas.

Comparison of indicators of the use of insulin and oral diabetes medication in a Polish population of patients in urban and rural areas in the years 2008, 2011 and 2012

Diabetes is one of the 10 most important chronic diseases in the world. According to the data of the International Diabetes Federation, in Poland 9% of the population between the ages of 20-79 suffer from diabetes. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the prevalence of diabetes in urban and rural areas in Poland, and the preparation of a model describing the phenomenon. Differences between urban and rural areas were studied for the occurrence of patients treated with diabetes per 100,000 inhabitants, the number of patients, structure of treatment per the used products, and the costs of reimbursement of treatment products between 2008-2012. Urban and rural cases were compared using zip codes. The basis for classifying a patient as being an inhabitant of an urban or rural area was an urban zip code of the declared place of residence. Differences were observed both between various areas of Poland, as well as depending on whether the declared place of residence of the patient was urban or rural. Differences between urban and rural areas within the studied period have increased. The difference in the prevalence of diabetes among the inhabitants of Podlaskie, Śląskie or Świętokrzyskie provinces is striking. Differences between urban and rural areas which depend on morbidity and detection of patients in the earlier phase of illness, the structures of medical technologies used in the treatment process, the number of purchased pharmaceuticals, enable better monitoring of effectiveness and quality of politics on prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. It is important for the creation of a health policy to devise a system of indicators, which will enable a decrease in the existing differences between regions, and between the urban and rural areas within the provinces.

Residues of chromium, nickel, cadmium and lead in Rook Corvus frugilegus eggshells from urban and rural areas of Poland

We examined the concentrations of chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) in Rook Corvus frugilegus eggshells from 43 rookeries situated in rural and urban areas of western (=intensive agriculture) and eastern (=extensive agriculture) Poland. We found small ranges in the overall level of Cr (the difference between the extreme values was 1.8-fold; range of concentrations=5.21–9.40Crppm), Ni (3.5-fold; 1.15–4.07Nippm), and Cd (2.6-fold; 0.34–0.91Cdppm), whereas concentrations of Pb varied markedly, i.e. 6.7-fold between extreme values (1.71–11.53Pbppm). Eggshell levels of these four elements did not differ between rural rookeries from western and eastern Poland, but eggshells from rookeries in large/industrial cities had significantly higher concentrations of Cr, Ni and Pb than those from small towns and villages. Our study suggests that female Rooks exhibited an apparent variation in the intensity of trace metal bioaccumulation in their eggshells, that rapid site-dependent bioaccumulation of Cu, Cr, Ni and Pb occurs as a result of the pollution gradient (rural<urban), and that Cd levels are probably regulated physiologically, even though these were relatively high, which could be treated as an overall proxy of a heavy Cd load in the soil environment.

Female unemployment trends in rural areas of Poland in 2008-2012

This paper, firstly, identifies the scale and spatial differentiation of registered female unemployment in rural areas of Poland, defined according to the new Degree of Urbanisation (DEGURBA) classification of LAU2 regions used in the European Union (EU) for the Labour Force Survey, since the onset of the global economic crisis, and secondly, investigates the reasons for the occurrence of very high female unemployment rates that are either stable or increasing and very high gender gaps in unemployment rates. Quantitative analysis identified 27 rural communes in Poland affected by such problems. Most are situated in the north and several in the south-east of the country, mainly in post-state-owned farming areas. The results of semi-structured telephone interviews with representatives of local authorities of nine of those communes indicate that despite the different locations and different types of LAU2 regions, female unemployment is caused by similar factors: liquidation of state-owned farms not followed by any new job opportunities, peripheral location not attractive for external (out-of-commune) investors, lack of entrepreneurial skills, experience and finance to start own businesses, low income or poverty of inhabitants significantly limiting the purchase of goods and services, thus limiting the demand that could be met by local SMEs, and finally liquidation of enterprises, quite often the only employers in the commune. The problem of female unemployment cannot be solved by local authorities as they lack sufficient legal and financial resources, and needs to be addressed by both the government and the EU within actions of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Labour Supply in the Labour Market in Rural Areas in Poland

Since the beginning of the political transformation in Poland, it's been more than twenty years, however, the situation on the labor market in rural areas is not the best. Deteriorating statistics on the labor market in Poland, manifested by high unemployment and a growing number of people in rural areas is the main reason for the formulation of the main as: analysis of the supply side of the labor market in rural areas in Poland in the years 20o0-2011. Discussion is focused on the employment and unemployment rates in Poland and the total isolation of rural areas. The presented figures were derived from calculations made on the basis of Polish Statistical Yearbooks, Annals of rural population censuses and agricultural Census available at the Central Statistical Office in Warsaw and Olsztyn, and the Foundation for the Development of Polish Agriculture.