Background: Poland is one of Europe’s most religious societies. Methods: The article presents the results of an online survey conducted in April 2020 during the period of the Polish government’s strictest restrictions to date in response to the pandemic. A quota sample of 1001 adult Poles was surveyed. Results: Around one-fifth (21.3%) of people declared that they spent more time praying and engaging in other religious practices than previously. As many as 61.3% of people who previously practiced religion several times a week spent more time on these practices, and, more interestingly, religious observance also increased among people who had previously practiced only once every few years (15.9%) and those who had not previously practiced at all (7.4%). People who previously practiced sporadically or not at all, but who began to pray more during the pandemic, are found to be distinguished from others by a greater fear of losing their job. Spending more time on religious observance is shown to be related to, e.g., disregard for some government restrictions, possession of less knowledge about COVID-19, and a greater tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. Conclusions: Overall, religious practices increased during the Polish spring lockdown. Although these increases are unlikely to be long-lasting, changes in religiosity caused by COVID-19 appear to be a real phenomenon. As the pandemic continues, more research on different aspects of this phenomenon is needed.

(1) Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has changed the functioning of Polish health systems. Telemedicine has been developed and access to prescription drugs (Rx) has been facilitated. This study examined whether these changes and the imposition of a three-month lockdown caused Polish people to engage in more self-medication-related behaviors. (2) Method: After the fourth (final) stage of defrosting the Polish economy, an online survey of a quota sample of 1013 Polish respondents was conducted. (3) Results: Almost half of the respondents (45.6%) indicated that they had engaged in at least one behavior associated with inappropriate self-medication during the lockdown (e.g., 16.6% took medication as a precaution, and 16.8% took an Rx formulation without consultation). Some of these people had never engaged in such behaviors prior to the lockdown. Linear regression showed that higher values of a composite (“lockdown”) index of self-medication-related behaviors occurring during lockdown were predicted by greater religiosity and the presence of children in a household. Also, independent samples t-tests showed that people who were afraid for their financial future and people who feared for their health obtained higher lockdown index scores than people not having such worries. (4) Conclusions: Self-medication-related behaviors were more common among Poles before lockdown than during the lockdown (which is unsurprising given that the lengths of the periods compared were hugely different), worryingly, many people exhibited such behaviors for the first time during the lockdown.

(1) Background: This study examines diverse food choices and sustainable consumption behavior across four generations of Poles: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y, and Generation Z. (2) Methods: The research employed an online survey with a quota sample of 1000 individuals, representing the Polish population in terms of gender, residence, and education (categorized into two groups). (3) Results: For Poles, the crucial factors in food selection were product quality (69.0%), price (68.6%), and information about the product’s composition (41.0%). Older cohorts (Baby Boomers and Generation X) prioritized food quality, while younger generations (Generation Y and Generation Z) emphasized price. Statistically significant differences emerged between generations regarding the product’s country of origin, with older generations emphasizing its importance more. The oldest group (Baby Boomers) considered ecological certification most important. As much as 85.9% of Poles checked product expiration dates while buying products, and 82.8% bought only as much as they needed. Baby Boomers most often exhibited these two behaviors and can be considered the most responsible among all generations. (4) Conclusions: This article highlights the importance of comprehensive sustainability efforts in the context of food choices. It takes into account the socio-cultural and historical circumstances of each generation that influence their consumer habits.

This article aims to describe how Polish physicians cooperate with the pharmaceutical industry and show how this relationship may pose a threat to public health. It considers the results of an online survey of 379 physicians. The survey was hosted by surveymonkey.com with links from a Polish physicians’ website (Medycyna Praktyczna) between 29 October 2013 and 31 December 2013. The sample was purposive, respondents having to be physicians working in Poland. The majority of respondents (96.8%) said that they had talked with pharmaceutical sales representatives (PSRs) in their practice, with 85% saying that they had had regular contact with them. Despite the existing legal ban in Poland, 35% of respondents admitted that they had usually met with PSRs in their office during working hours. As many as 81.8% of surveyed doctors said that they had taken part in an educational meeting organized by the pharmaceutical industry at least once during the 12 months preceding the study. A majority of the respondents (72.3%) said they trusted the information provided by PSRs. Over one third of respondents (36.4%) claimed that Polish doctors accepted gifts of a type that they should not accept according to Polish law. The study showed that Polish physicians cooperate in different ways with pharmaceutical companies and have frequent contact with them. This can influence their knowledge and doctors whose knowledge of drugs is based mainly on information from pharmaceutical industry materials may prescribe medicines in a biased way, possibly exposing their patients to sub-optimal treatments and burdening both their patients and the state budget with unnecessary costs. Lack of trust in doctors and pharmaceutical companies have other implications too: there may be a decline of faith in the efficacy of therapy and patients may be encouraged to engage in self-diagnosis and self-treatment. For these reasons it is necessary to increase transparency and strengthen the ethical guidelines surrounding the physician–pharmaceutical industry relationship in Poland. The present findings also have implications for public health policy.

Objective: To describe experiences of mistreatment among Polish medical students. Methods: Nine focus groups were carried out with 92 students from three medical universities in Poland (in Gdansk, Krakow, and Warsaw). Results: The mistreatment of medical students included verbal abuse, disregard, and obstacles to pass exams. Students experienced humiliation, belittlement, insults, criticism, shouting, and indecent comments. The lecturers did not respect the students’ time; they did not show understanding for their absences; sometimes, they came to class unprepared while other times, they showed indifference regarding the well-being of students. Respondents stated that they were given enormous amounts material such that they found it far beyond their ability to learn; they were not given information about which textbooks were to be used; exams were incredibly detailed and difficult; and the grading system was unfair. In general, most students did not report the mistreatment. The respondents noticed the negative consequences of their mistreatment, which included a decrease in self-esteem and increased levels of anxiety and stress. This may translate into a lack of empathetic approach to patients. Conclusions: The phenomenon of the mistreatment of medical students requires more attention in Poland. It is important to raise awareness of the significant consequences of this.

Objective: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts have faced the challenge of convincing people to change their everyday habits. This study aims to evaluate the impact of trust in medicine on Polish citizens’ adherence to recommended behaviors. Methods: An online survey was conducted on a quota sample of adult Poles (n = 1072) during the second wave of COVID-19. Results: The trust-in-medicine index was created from statements relating to trust in healthcare professionals, vaccines, and medicines. This index showed that 27.1% of respondents expressed low trust, 36.7% expressed moderate trust, and 36.3% expressed high trust. The recommended behavior index was created from nine statements. This index showed that 15.8% of respondents had low adherence, 38.2% had moderate adherence, and 46.0% had high adherence to the healthcare experts’ recommendations. One-way analysis of variance showed that people with a high trust had significantly higher scores on the recommended behavior index when compared to people with a moderate or low trust. Conclusions: This study suggests that those responsible for health policy should put more effort into building trust not only in health professionals, but also in pharmaceutical companies. We also determined the socio-demographic features of people to whom such actions of trust building should be directed.