Documents medical care 344 results

"Hazards from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, should be addressed in line with the EU Biological Agents Directive and by means of a strengthened centralised capacity of the European Union for the monitoring of and response to health emergencies.
Mitigating and preventing the impact of the illness, COVID-19, should be done by classifying it as an occupational disease, ensuring the availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing for health workers, and engaging workers in all aspects of ‘work organisation'.
The coronavirus crisis, which is the result of the impact of the nexus of austerity/virus/illness on society at large, should trigger a transformative change in the care economy, leading to the valuing of care work, pay transparency, full acknowledgement of psychosocial risks such as violence and harassment in the world of work, measures to promote occupational health equity, sustainable health workforce planning and the inclusion of the currently absent gender aspect in EU legislation on occupational safety and health."

"This review focuses on the concept of care, a concept that has never been more popular as a focus of study. It undertakes a critical review, motivated by the breadth of the field and the lack of coherence and linkages across a diverse literature. The review concentrates first on organizing and reviewing the literature in terms of key focus and, second, drawing out the strengths and weaknesses of existing work and making suggestions for how future work might proceed in COVID-19 times. While the existing literature offers many insights, some quite basic things need to be reconsidered, not least definition and conceptualization. Defining care as based on the meeting of perceived welfare-related need, I develop it as comprising need, relations/actors, resources and ideas and values. Each of these dimensions has an inherent disposition towards the study of inequality and it is possible, either by looking at them individually or all together, to identify care as situated in relations of relative power and inequality. The framework allows a set of critical questions to be posed in relation to COVID-19 and the policies and resources that have been mustered in response."

"The COVID-19 pandemic facilitated a long-expected paradigm shift in the European Union's perception on health and healthcare. It has been proved that health policy decisions cannot be kept within a nation-state framework only, and that a new vision and strengthened community competences are needed to cope with public health crises.

Traditionally, EU member states have long been opposed to a greater role for the European institutions in health policy. Notwithstanding, growing disparities with alarming inequalities as to the health status of people across the 27 EU member states, and the differences in these people's access to quality healthcare, have the potential to seriously undermine the fundamental right to health.

The pandemic made it overwhelmingly clear that health is essential when it comes to the fair, resilient and sustainable development of our societies. Developing health systems indicators, a pharmaceutical strategy for Europe and a European cancer plan could be valid building blocks to construct a solid Health Union.

This policy brief presents the case of Hungary, with a look at its chronically underfunded and poorly performing health sector and an analysis of the national attitudes towards the European Health Union. Consultations with health professionals, local administrators and civil society evidence that the creation of a EU Health Union could contribute to catching up of the ailing national healthcare systems. A majority of the Hungarian society would see the European Health Union as a driving force to improve health outcomes in their countries and are supportive of more European integration in this domain.

Based on this, six areas of action are identified: planning, communication, joint research, equal access, primary prevention, and funding."

"This report has been drafted jointly by the JRC and the International Labour Organization. The report is part of a series of four joint publications that together represent the main final outcomes of a 2.5-year joint research project on the changing nature of work at a global level. The objective of this study is to understand better the algorithmic management practices adopted by regular workplaces. We investigate the degree of penetration and impact of algorithmic management on work organisation, job quality and industrial relations focusing on the logistics and healthcare sectors. The research has been conducted in two European countries (Italy and France) and two non-European countries (India and South Africa), allowing for a comparative analysis across countries in the Global North and Global South. We show that algorithmic management is widely present in traditional sectors, with benefits in terms of streamlining and simplification of work processes and efficiency gains. The implications of these new forms of work for work organisation and working conditions are also discussed. We show significant challenges in terms of potential deterioration of job quality as well as concerns regarding the strong potential for intrusive worker surveillance."

"The 2022 edition of Health at a Glance: Europe examines the key challenges European countries must address to develop stronger, more resilient health systems following the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. It includes a special focus on how the pandemic has affected young people's mental and physical health. The report emphasises the need for additional measures to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from scarring a generation of young people. This edition of Health at a Glance: Europe also assesses the pandemic's disruption of a wide range of health services for non-COVID patients, as well as the policy responses European countries deployed to minimise the adverse consequences of these disruptions. It also addresses a number of important behavioural and environmental risk factors that have a major impact on people's health and mortality, highlighting the need to put a greater focus on the prevention of both communicable and non-communicable diseases."

"Despite significant progress, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) epidemic continues to pose a public health threat in Europe. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated challenges by disrupting healthcare services and diverting attention and resources away from HIV prevention and treatment. Stigma and discrimination against those affected by HIV persist and are additional obstacles, slowing down progress to end the HIV epidemic.

This Discussion Paper explores the current HIV prevalence in Europe, identifies barriers and challenges, and offers policy recommendations to overcome these obstacles and meet the sustainable development goals targets in Europe. The Paper emphasises the need for renewed political commitment and cooperation among the EU and its member states to prioritise HIV as well as for strong partnership and collaboration between authorities and stakeholders concerned, ultimately striving for success in ending the epidemic."

"Health at a Glance provides a comprehensive set of indicators on population health and health system performance across OECD members and key emerging economies. These cover health status, risk factors for health, access to and quality of healthcare, and health system resources. Analysis draws from the latest comparable official national statistics and other sources.
Alongside indicator-by-indicator analysis, an overview chapter summarises the comparative performance of countries and major trends. This edition also has a special focus on digital health, which measures the digital readiness of OECD countries' health systems, and outlines what countries need to do accelerate the digital health transformation."

"As both an accelerator of existing trends and a moment of rupture, the health crisis and its tragic consequences have radically changed every aspect of social life. The implications of Covid-19 go deep, worsening social inequalities, speeding up disruptive technological change, and exposing a broken relationship with the natural world. From the experience of urban areas to new solidarities such as the notion of essential workers, this edition traces its causes and effects, as well as our response. Spanning loneliness among the elderly, the future of public health, and biodiversity loss, it tracks how the pandemic shines a light on fundamental challenges for the 21st century. While some wish to return to business as usual, putting health over the economy has forced the politics of life and living together out into the open. The task for Greens and progressives is keeping them at the centre of our politics."