Slovenian Community Research Articles

The Affective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS) in Slovenia: Validation of the Six Primary Scales Across Three ANPS Versions

Abstract To assess primary emotions in subcortical brain regions across all mammals, the affective neuroscience personality scales (ANPS) were created for use in research involving human subjects. Later revisions of the scales have been validated across many countries and are used in diverse fields of psychology. The ANPS revisions culminated in the most recent ANPS 3.1. In this study, we evaluated the psychometric properties of the ANPS 3.1 and its two abbreviated versions (affective neuroscience personality scales – brief (BANPS) and affective neuroscience personality scales – short version (ANPS-S)) in a Slovenian community sample of 502 young adults. We simultaneously examined several kinds of validity evidence across the three versions: construct validity, internal reliability, and convergent validity. Our findings revealed acceptable construct validity of the six-factor model of the BANPS that was superior to the ANPS-S and particularly to the ANPS 3.1. The latter exhibited incremental fit issues noted in previous versions. However, we revealed sufficient internal reliability and convergent validity of the scale scores against the Big Five personality traits, and the frequency of the participants’ recently felt positive and negative emotions across all three ANPS versions. Testing the measurement invariance of BANPS across sex suggested full metric invariance and partial scalar invariance which allows direct score comparisons between males and females.

Slovenske knjižnice v Argentini

Purpose: To present the history of Slovenian libraries in Argentina: outline the work and organization of the libraries (whether they have a catalogue, how lending is done, what the opening hours are, etc.), characteristics of the users, borrowing, visits of the libraries, opinions what they would change in their library, and to present the impor­tance of the libraries for the Slovenian community in the past and today. Methodology/approach: Literature review and fieldwork. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with respondents from 18 Slovenian libraries in Argentina, the data was content analysed. Results: The Slovenian community in Argentina is organized in associations, most of which have libraries, as do the umbrella organization of Slovenians in Argentina, Zedinjena Slovenija, and the Slovene language lectorates in Buenos Aires and Cordoba (eighteen libraries in total). Most libraries are in Buenos Aires, but they are also present in Mendoza, Bariloche, Rosario, Cordoba, and Paraná. Most libraries are community and school libraries. The librarians are mostly volunteers without librarian education. The libraries obtain their materials from Slovenia or through donations and inherit­ances. Most do not have a catalogue, do not keep records of borrowed books, their opening hours are usually during society events. They rarely or never organize events. The only service they offer is book lending, mostly to children, Slovenian school teach­ers and older members. Only the library in Bariloche is included in the COBISS system. The most vital libraries are those of the third-wave emigration associations, most of which were founded in the first decade after the Second World War. They are important for the preservation of Slovenian culture and language, but also have historical, archi­val and symbolic value for the community. Originality/practical implications: The first research on Slovenian libraries in Argentina. In addition to an overview of the history and situation of libraries, it also gives some guidelines for the future development of Slovenian emigrant libraries.

Dekonstrukcja mitów romantycznych w literaturze słoweńskiej po France Prešernie

The main aim of this article is to present the methods in which Slovenian myths of Romantic provenience, present in France Prešeren’s poetry, are deconstructed since the fifties of nineteenth century. Prešeren (1800−1849) is regarded as the national poet, who enabled the Slovenian community and competed with the canon of European literature. Parallelly to the process of his canonization occurred the reverse of it, The Anxiety of Influence, described by Harold Bloom. Poets Simon Jenko (1835−1869) and Oton Župančič (1878−1949) had been deconstructing the myths of Romantic love, mythical conception of poetry, poets and nationin the period of realism and modernism, as well as the poet Veno Taufer in the period of neo-avantgarde (1933−). The intertextual analysis of their poems shows several ways of contesting the influence of the main topics and aesthetic codes from Prešeren’s poetry, determined by the role of poetry in Slovenian culture, described in the late sixties of twentieth century as Prešeren structure.

Belgian Integrated Health Record (BIHR): from 2025, all well-being and health data will be available for all members of the care team, including the patient himself. 

•Why are you conducting a workshop? Please explain the problem, the context, or the case study,
 It would be an absolute added value for the BIHR-project to also hear the voice and opinion from other countries and experts: what went very smoothly? But also, what obstacles were they confronted with and how did they tackle these challenges.
 •Who is it for? Please explain who you would like to engage with.
 BIHR is a ‘Moonshot’: the expert group defined four major groups that are essential to bring BIHR to a successful project: the citizens, the healthcare providers, the various governments, and partners from the industry.
 In the panel debate we would like to have representatives from those different stakeholders around the table.
 It would also be an absolute added value to hear success stories from other countries and see if things could be realized in Belgium in the short and/or medium term.
 •Ilke Montag, MD, MSc: lead of the Belgian expert panel about BIHR 
 •Jan De Maeseneer, MD, PhD: Head of WHO Collaborating Centre on Family Medicine and Primary Health Care - Ghent University Belgium
 •Bart Van den Bosch, MD, PHD: CIO at University Hospital Leuven Belgium
 •A representative of the European Patients Forum (European Patients' Forum - Home (eu-patient.eu))
 •A representative of the International Hospital Federation (Home - IHF - International Hospital Federation (ihf-fih.org))
 •Someone who can explain the concept and the functioning of EHRs in the Canadian Primary Health Care Services
 •Someone who can explain the concept and the functioning of Slovenian Community health centers with multidisciplinary teams 
 •What are you going to do? Please explain the structure of the session. Please remember that workshops’ objective is to be interactive and engage with the audience - At least ½ of the time should be based on the interaction with the audience. 
 •How are you going to engage with the audience?
 •How are you going to summarize the take home messages?
 We will start with a short 15 min. presentation/introduction of the concept of BIHR. Afterwards, the moderator asks for a short reflection on this concept by the various panel members. The panel members are then asked to name both a success story and the lessons learnt from less successful projects. To involve the public in the debate, statements for debate will be used, each time from a unique perspective (citizens, care providers, governments, industry). The panel members will be confronted with the voting results on the statements. 
 The take home message will be a compilation of the success keys cited by each of the panel. There will also be a warm appeal to work together not only across the various levels in health care, but also across national borders.

Vloga političnih beguncev iz Slovenije pri oživljanju slovenstva v zamejstvu v Italiji

The present Slovenian communities in the Italian borderlands have undergone extraordinary changes in the size and composition of their populations over the last century. After World War II, a large number of political refugees from Slovenia also settled there. Since the Italian authorities did not grant them Italian citizenship, most of them emigrated across the ocean after a few years. The rest became actively involved in the social and cultural life of the borderlands. Certainly, the refugees played a very prominent role in the culturally deprived Slovenian community in the Primorska region, which was the result of a quarter of a century of fascist oppression. This applies in particular to the education, media, cultural activities and religious life, where traces of their work are evident.

Восприятие Триеста в нарративах словенцев в Италии

The paper deals with the perception of Trieste in the narratives of representatives of Slovenian minority community in Italy in the aspect of Slavic-Romance language and cultural contacts. Basing on his own field study, as well as, lexicographic data and ethnographic literature, the author analyzes words and utterances (including phraseological units) that mention Trieste, related toponyms and socio-economic practices. While paying special attention to the language situation in the city and neighboring villages, the paper also discusses significance of the Italian language and the local dialect of Trieste as well as borrowed Slavic lexemes and expressions, their functioning in the speech of citizens. Linguistic and cultural identity of this group of Slovenian informants is closely related to Trieste. On the one hand, the informants associate Trieste with predominance of the Italian language, which manifests in their speech as code switching forms, on the other, they recognize the importance of Trieste in a socio-economic and cultural life of all Slovenes. The parallel co-existence of two communities has recently undergone changes: italophone residents of the city discover homogeneous Slovenian settlements, so that the new language situation is in statu nascendi.

“Eyes Have No Border”. Presencing the Slovenian-Hungarian Border in Goričko and the Rába Valley

The article draws on the written and oral memories of people living along the border between Slovenia (Goričko in Prekmurje) and Hungary (the Rába Valley). They are presented as comments on a century-long process of political changes in this borderland and demonstrate a plethora of ways in which border shifts intrude on people’s everyday lives. People’s concern with the border is reflected in the fact that it is a topic that emerges in any conversation with individuals living next to it, whether in the context of work, family, daily errands or stories of the past and present. In this article, informed by two concepts–border and memory– we present memories and perceptions of the border as they are expressed in casual comments or observations and semi-structured conversations with interviewees in the field. Life in borderlands is always localized, and there are visible divergences in the experience of the border on the Slovenian and Hungarian side. In Prekmurje, historical events along the border, especially the post-Trianon one, and the memory of these events are perpetuated through anniversaries of the annexation of Prekmurje to the Kingdom of SCS, whereas in the Rába Valley, memories especially relate to the Iron Curtain period. In a much more poignant way, they also constitute the present Slovenian community in ethnic terms as they are mediated in their vernacular.

The Slovenian Community in Croatia during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract The article analyses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the life and work of the Slovenian community in Croatia, focusing on the attitude of the Republic of Slovenia towards the members of such community and the challenges they encountered in maintaining contacts with Slovenia. The article studies Slovenian and Croatian media reports as well as documents published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia. In addition, it examines data obtained from interviewees who live in the border area and/or are active members of the Slovenian community in Croatia. The testimonies largely relate to changes of the border regime that have affected the interviewees’ private and professional life. The processes resulting from the measures adopted to tackle the pandemic have indeed left a deep imprint on the lives of the members of the Slovenian community in Croatia.

Some Dilemmas About the Concept of Umbrella Organizations in Slovenian Communities in Neighbouring Countries

Abstract Slovenian national minorities in the four Slovenia’s neighboring countries are represented as a whole by the so-called umbrella organizations. Such status is recognized to these organizations by the countries where these communities live, as well as by the Republic of Slovenia. But among members of these Slovenian communities there are also very critical views that umbrella organizations do not have the necessary legitimacy and that such a system is not appropriate. The article first summarizes the historical reasons why the existing organizations established themselves as umbrella organizations, and then we present and compare the views of selected interviewees who are critical about the legitimacy and effectiveness of such an arrangement. We conclude with a reflection on possible reforms of representation of Slovenian minorities.

Developing Teaching Materials for Teaching Slovene in FVG: A Case Study and Development Opportunities

Abstract The authors present a case study on the development and evaluation of teaching materials for teaching Slovene in schools with Slovene as language of instruction and in the sloveneitalian bilingual school in Italy, as developed in the INTERREG project EDUKA2. The authors discuss possible developmental perspectives in the field of minority language teaching and preparation of teaching materials. The authors note that modern technology offers some answers to the challenges of distributing and sharing teaching materials among school and kindergarten teachers, and that the Slovenian community in Italy could take advantage of it, and conclude that the role of teachers and educators is still essential in upgrading and adapting teaching materials.

Psychometric properties of the Slovenian long and short version of the self-compassion scale

The Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) is a widely used instrument for measuring selfcompassion. In this study we examined psychometric properties of the SCS long and short form in a Slovenian community sample (N = 442). The total score reliability was satisfactory both in the long form (? = .91) and short form (? = .81). The reliability of subscales in the long form was between .66 and .84, and relatively low in the short form (from .45 to .72). We performed a confirmatory factor analysis and examined a one factor, a two factor a six-factor correlated model, a higher order model, and a bi-factor model. The six-factor and bi-factor models showed the best fit for the SCS-LF, and the six-factor model was the only acceptable fit for the SCS-SF. The correlation between the long and the short form is very high (r = .96). The SCS correlates in a predictable way with satisfaction with life, well-being, and attachment styles. We concluded that Slovenian versions of both the long and the short form of the SCS have generally from acceptable to good psychometric properties. Results supported the use of both the total score and subscale scores of SCS-LF. The short version of the SCS can be used as a good and economical alternative when the aim is to use the total score.

The Importance of Learning Slovene within the Educational System for the Slovenian Community in Varaždin County

The opportunities for learning Slovene within the Croatian school system have improved. The paper presents the teaching of Slovene in Varaždin County, the demographic structure of the students, their reasons for learning Slovene, and the attitude of the students and their parents towards learning Slovene. The purpose is to find out to what extent the teaching of Slovene within the framework of the educational system contributes to the preservation of the Slovenian community and to the revitalisation of the language. The paper relies on data collected using quantitative and qualitative methods. The results show that the children who learn Slovene at school mostly declare themselves Croats. Their initial knowledge of Slovene is poor.

Synchronous Examination of Diaspora Communities: Slovenian Canadians in Ontario

This article presents a model for studying diaspora communities as independent structures applied to the Slovenian-Canadian case and where the synchronous examination of diaspora communities and the literary system is the central subject of study. This paper presents an established research model, which does not examine diaspora communities as a bridge between the country of origin and the country of acceptance, but as a third autonomous, equivalent space. The model enables extra and intratextual analysis of literature, treatment of written and spoken language use and examination of formal and informal institutional situations of the diaspora community. This methodology is especially effective in the analysis of the diaspora community under contemporary conditions, where we find only the remnants of a once powerful system that have managed to be maintained over many decades up to the present, which is not possible from a distance (e.g. from Slovenia). Using the researcher's two years of fieldwork as well as the intra-community status of the researcher, the community was observed with the taxonomy of variables proposed by Howard Giles et al. (1971) that determines the empirical reality of minority communities. Due to the shortcomings of this approach in the analysis, we have established a more appropriate model, which not only enables the monitoring and assessment of the community, but on the basis of the theory of realization of national interpellation proposed by Marcello Potocco (2012), we are able to increase the actual vitality and strengthen the (Slovenian) national identity. The model allows participation in the activity, not only for observing, but for implementation of additional activity as well, according to the existing situations and needs of the community. The vitality of the community was re-assessed and the results compared with the pilot assessment. The comparison demonstrated that the proposed approach is effective. In the Slovenian community, in Ontario, the material factors of national interpellation are: socio-institutional context (interconnection of institutions), education, media, literary system (extra and intratextual), publishing market, the use of language (written, spoken) and other (religion, economy, music, sport and gastronomy).

"However, the language here is changing gradually, and in the presence of so many local dialects the Croatian and its kindred Slovenian world cannot be separated very precisely" – Drawing the Slovenian-Croatian National Border in the Territory of the Present-day Prekmurje Region

The article analyses the process involved in the formation of the idea to separate the "Slovenian" and "Croatian" national territory in the west of the Kingdom of Hungary. The concept was initially articulated as a linguistic premise in the works written by the famous linguist Jernej Kopitar, who understood the territory of the today's Prekmurje region as an area where Slovenian language was spoken. As of the middle of the 19th century, Kopitar's classification had been appropriated by the Slovenian national movement, which presupposed that the speakers of the Slovenian language in the Kingdom of Hungary were also members of the envisioned Slovenian community. In this context the Slovenian linguistic – national border was, in the middle of the 19th century, depicted on a map for the first time (Peter Kozler). In just a few decades, the idea of the national demarcation line in the today's Prekmurje, supposedly separating Slovenians from Croats at the river Mura, had strengthened considerably among the Slovenian national activists in the Cisleithanian lands. After the dissolution of Austro-Hungary and the signing of the Treaty of Trianion, this line in fact became a border between the Slovenian and the neighbouring Croatian national space.

Slovenian Immigrants and the Ethnic Economy in Contemporary Canada

The Slovenian community in Canada, although a small constitutive element of the current population, has actively contributed to the economic and political development of the second-largest country in the world. Previous studies have only descriptively addressed the role of Slovenian immigrants in the construction of this important economic system. This paper argues that the development within the community has brought about some significant changes in social stratification among its members, specifically with regard to the radical global economic challenges of recent decades. On the other hand, the specific altruistic mission of Slovenian community organisations has remained largely unchanged.

Development and validation of the Slovenian drug-related problem classification system based on the PCNE classification V 6.2.

Background Classifying drug-related problems increases pharmacists' awareness of patients' drug-related needs and supports the development of counselling skills through increased awareness of the nature and frequency of drug-related problems. No standardised classification system was used in daily pharmacy practice in Slovenia. Objective To translate, upgrade and validate the Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe (PCNE) classification V 6.2 for use in Slovenian community pharmacies. Setting Expert panel meetings at the Faculty of Pharmacy and home-based classification validation. Methods The PCNE classification V 6.2 was translated to Slovenian language by forward-backward translation procedure. An expert panel consisting of nine practicing pharmacists upgraded the content of the translated version. Thirty-one community pharmacists validated this version with the PCNE set of 18 patient cases by coding problems, risk factors and interventions they believed were present in each case. The expert panel discussed the results and upgraded the classification accordingly. Afterwards, 33 community pharmacists validated the upgraded version with a set of 40 actual Slovenian pharmacy patient cases. Based on the results, the expert panel formed a final version of the classification. Main outcome measure Coding consistency between community pharmacists. Results The expert panel performed some major modifications to the PCNE classification V 6.2: the potential problem was added as a sub domain to problems domain; the term adverse drug event was used instead of adverse drug reaction; the causes domain was renamed to risk factors and its sub domains were organized into prescribing, dispensing and use of drugs; dispensing errors were specified; use of drugs was organized into intentional and unintentional use of drugs; the sub domains in the interventions domain were divided according to the communication and agreement with the prescriber. The average coding consistencies in the first validation study were 75% (±16%) for problems, 74% (±20%) for risk factors and 94% (±10%) for interventions. The average coding consistencies in the second validation study were 83% (±16%) for problems, 85% (±17%) for risk factors and 80% (±20%) for interventions. Conclusion A drug-related problem classification for use in Slovenian community pharmacies was developed based on The PCNE classification V 6.2. The validation studies demonstrated high coding consistencies.

The decapitation of Slovenia’s Catholic Church: social factors and consequences

ABSTRACTThis article discusses the financial collapse of Slovenia’s Catholic Church, a scandal which resulted in the deposition of the country’s archbishops, and its impact on religious belief and on the relations within the Slovenian Catholic establishment and community. Trust in the Church and religious participation have dropped markedly in Slovenia over recent years. While there are no significant changes in religious belief, other religious indicators continue to reflect an ongoing moderate trend towards secularisation that is characteristic of Slovenia in the post-socialist era. The public discourse of the Church’s leadership and lay Catholics reveals tensions on the reasons behind the fall of the Church’s financial empire and on the question of responsibility in the removal of Slovenia’s archbishops. Two general types of reactions were identified in a content analysis of texts from a five-month period after the last depositions. Views within the Slovene Catholic Church, which uphold the institution’s traditional stance, tend to explain these developments as part of a conspiracy against the Church. Others that are more open and reflective are critical towards the actions of the Church and demand change from within the institution.

Development of the Smaller Local Communities in Slovenia Depends on the School as the Socio-Cultural Center

The local schools have always been the centers of the cultural and social life of the Slovenian communities. Functioning as a socio-cultural center of the local community, the school greatly surpassed its primary role of providing education to children. The process of urbanization that reached rural areas as well as the secularization of lifestyles brought about very interesting changes to the previously expanded function of local schools. In the research study we conducted in 2014 and 2015 we examined how contemporary schools perceive the need for collaboration and participation in their local environments. The results of qualitative analysis indicate that merging or closing of local schools could have negative demographic and socio-cultural consequences. Furthermore, the analysis has also revealed the underused potential of the localities lacking tradition, such as new urban areas where the school could be the crucial element in the social organization of the local community.

Contribution of Slovenian community pharmacist counseling to patients' knowledge about their prescription medicines: a cross-sectional study.

AimTo assess patients’ knowledge about prescription medicines they are taking and their view on how much community pharmacist counseling contributed to their knowledge.MethodsAn observational study was designed to obtain information about patients’ knowledge, their view on pharmacist counseling, and physicians’/pharmacists’ provision of information. This study used a specifically designed questionnaire, which served as an interview guide. 400 patients picking up a prescription medicine were structurally interviewed upon leaving one of the 20 randomly chosen Slovenian pharmacies. The interviews took place in November and December 2013.ResultsPatients were familiar with general information about the medicines and their application (93%-100% of patients). Knowledge about considerations (16% of patients) and adverse effects (20% of patients) was limited. Factors associated with patient knowledge were physicians’/pharmacists’ adequate provision of information (β = 0.259), patient’s age (β = - 0.149), patient’s education (β = 0.100), and prescription type (β = -0.104). Patients’ responses were mostly consistent with the Summaries of Product Characteristics (72%-96% of responses). However, 42% of responses to the question about taking medicine with meals were incorrect. Pharmacists routinely informed the patients about medication purpose, dose, application rate, and timing of medication (in 72%, 89%, 89%, and 77% of cases, respectively). Other information was rarely offered. Patients with new prescriptions received significantly more counseling (pharmacist counseling score 5.9, 5.2, and 4.7 of maximum 10 for new, regular, and refill prescriptions, respectively, P = 0.001) and obtained adequate labeling (69%, 26%, and 17% of patients for new, regular and refill prescriptions, respectively, P < 0.001) than patients with regular or refill prescriptions.ConclusionPatients were familiar with basic information about administration of their prescription medicines, but lacked knowledge about medication safety. This could be attributed to pharmacist counseling, which primarily focused on medicine use instructions.

Ali so društva pomembna za učenje starejših v skupnosti?

Dosedanje raziskave v Sloveniji so pokazale, da imajo starejši odrasli, ki se udeležujejo organiziranega izobraževanja, višjo stopnjo izobrazbe, so bogatejši, pogosteje živijo v mestih in so zelo verjetno ženske. Po drugi strani tudi raziskave v Avstraliji in nekaterih evropskih državah kažejo, da se starejši moški redkeje izobražujejo v organiziranih izobraževalnih dejavnostih. Naš cilj je bil raziskati vlogo prostovoljskih organizacij pri druženju in učenju starejših moških v skupnosti v Sloveniji. Pri raziskovanju priložnostnega učenja starejših moških v eni mestni in dveh podeželskih občinah smo uporabili kvantitativni in kvalitativni pristop; proučili smo stanje prostovoljskih organizacij v izbranih občinah v Sloveniji ter v izbranih prostovoljskih organizacijah, v katerih večino članov pomenijo starejši moški (študije primerov), opravili polstrukturirane intervjuje in izpeljali fokusno skupino. Rezultati so pokazali, da obstaja le majhno število prostovoljskih organizacij, v katerih starejši moški pomenijo večino članov. Priložnostno in naključno učenje se pojavlja v vseh prostovoljskih organizacijah, izobraževalne dejavnosti pa organizirajo le nekateri. Članstvo v prostovoljskih organizacijah starejšim moškim daje priložnost, da ostanejo povezani s svojimi vrstniki, se srečujejo z drugimi generacijami in člani lokalne skupnosti, in hkrati priložnost, da ostanejo dejavni ter se čutijo koristne in spoštovane. Članstvo v prostovoljskih organizacijah krepi socialna omrežja starejših moških ter vpliva na njihovo blaginjo. Z izjemo raziskav B. Goldinga s sodelavci, ki opozarjajo na specifičnost potreb starejših moških po izobraževanju in učenju, se zdi, da je ta skupina v izobraževanju odraslih nepomembna (oz. pozabljena) manjšina, zato bi bilo treba okrepiti nadaljnje raziskovanje ter razprave na tem področju.