Objective. While simulated patients (SPs) are considered a standard tool in communication skills training, there is no evidence thus far of their comparative benefit to the more cost‐effective option of student role playing. We compared the effectiveness of both approaches in developing patient‐centred attitudes in students. Methods. We retrospectively compared students who participated in the clinical communication course (CCC), based on student role playing (CCCsp‐, n = 160), to students who participated in the CCC with SPs (CCCsp+, n = 146), and students with no formal CCC (CCC‐, n = 122). We used validated questionnaires to assess patient centredness. We also conducted focus group interviews (FGI) to better understand the impact of CCC with sp. Results. Students after the CCC with simulated patients achieved a significantly higher score in the patient‐practitioner orientation scale than other groups (p < 0.001). Conclusions. There is a strong positive correlation between the implementation of simulated patients and patient‐centred attitudes among students. Data from the FGI revealed that students perceived training with SP as more realistic, safe, and engaging than student role playing. Practice Implications. Our research provides evidence to justify costs and resources invested in simulated patient programs.

All European countries need to increase the number of health professionals in the near future. Most efforts have not brought the expected results so far. The current notion is that this is mainly related to the fact that female physicians will clearly outnumber their male colleagues within a few years in nearly all European countries. Still, women are underrepresented in leadership and research positions throughout Europe. The MedGoFem project addresses multiple perspectives with the participation of multiple stakeholders. The goal is to facilitate the implementation of Gender Equality Plans (GEP) in university hospitals; thereby, transforming the working conditions for women working as researchers and highly qualified physicians simultaneously. Our proposed innovation, a crosscutting topic in all research and clinical activities, must become an essential part of university hospital strategic concepts. We capture the current status with gender-sensitive demographic data concerning medical staff and conduct Web-based surveys to identify cultural, country-specific, and interdisciplinary factors conducive to women's academic success. Individual expectations of employees regarding job satisfaction and working conditions will be visualized based on "personal construct theory" through repertory grids. An expert board working out scenarios and a gender topic agenda will identify culture-, nation-, and discipline-specific aspects of gender equality. University hospitals in 7 countries will establish consensus groups, which work on related topics. Hospital management supports the consensus groups, valuates group results, and shares discussion results and suggested measures across groups. Central findings of the consensus groups will be prepared as exemplary case studies for academic teaching on research and work organization, leadership, and management. A discussion group on gender equality in academic medicine will be established on an internationally renowned open-research platform. Project results will be published in peer-reviewed journals with high-impact factors. In addition, workshops on gender dimension in research using the principles of Gendered Innovation will be held. Support and consulting services for hospitals will be introduced in order to develop a European consulting service. The main impact of the project will be the implementation of innovative GEP tailored to the needs of university hospitals, which will lead to measurable institutional change in gender equality. This will impact the research at university hospitals in general, and will improve career prospects of female researchers in particular. Simultaneously, the gender dimension in medical research as an innovation factor and mandatory topic will be strengthened and integrated in each individual university hospital research activity. Research funding organizations can use the built knowledge to include mandatory topics for funding applications to enforce the use and implementation of GEP in university hospitals.

Background: Health is not the only aspect people consider when choosing to consume meat; environmental concerns about the impact of meat (production and distribution) can influence people’s meat choices. Methods: We conducted a mixed-methods systematic review, searched six databases from inception to June 2020, and synthesised our findings into narrative forms. We integrated the evidence from quantitative and qualitative data sets into joint displays and assessed the confidence in the evidence for each review finding following the GRADE-CERQual approach. Results: Of the 23,531 initial records, we included 70 studies: 56 quantitative, 12 qualitative, and 2 mixed-methods studies. We identified four main themes: (1) reasons for eating meat; (2) reasons for avoiding meat; (3) willingness to change meat consumption; and (4) willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly meat. The overall confidence was low for the reasons for eating and/or buying meat, for avoiding meat, and for willingness to change meat consumption, and was moderate for willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly meat. Conclusions: Regardless of people’s general beliefs about meat and its impact on the environment, most people may be unwilling to change their meat consumption. Future research should address the current limitations of the research evidence to assess whether people are willing to make a change when properly informed.

Background: An increasing number of online support groups are providing advice and information on topics related to mental health. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the needs that internet users meet through peer-to-peer interactions. Methods: A search of 4 databases was performed until August 15, 2022. Qualitative or mixed methods (ie, qualitative and quantitative) studies investigating interactions among internet users with mental disorders were included. The φ coefficient was used and machine learning techniques were applied to investigate the associations between the type of mental disorders and web-based interactions linked to seeking help or support. Results: Of the 13,098 identified records, 44 studies (analyzed in 54 study-disorder pairs) that assessed 82,091 users and 293,103 posts were included. The most frequent interactions were noted for people with eating disorders (14/54, 26%), depression (12/54, 22%), and psychoactive substance use disorders (9/54, 17%). We grouped interactions between users into 42 codes, with the empathy or compassion code being the most common (41/54, 76%). The most frequently coexisting codes were request for information and network (35 times; φ=0.5; P<.001). The algorithms that provided the best accuracy in classifying disorders by interactions were decision trees (44/54, 81%) and logistic regression (40/54, 74%). The included studies were of moderate quality. Conclusions: People with mental disorders mostly use the internet to seek support, find answers to their questions, and chat. The results of this analysis should be interpreted as a proof of concept. More data on web-based interactions among these people might help apply machine learning methods to develop a tool that might facilitate screening or even support mental health assessment.

According to the World Health Organization, the improvement of people’s health literacy is one of the fundamental public health challenges in the 21st century. The key issue in teaching health literacy is to develop critical thinking skills. As health literacy and critical thinking should be developed at school age, we reviewed teaching methods or educational interventions used in empirical studies focused on the development of critical thinking regarding health and implemented by teachers in preschools, primary schools, or secondary schools. We searched seven databases (Medline, Embase, Web of Science, ERIC, ProqQuest, PsycArticles, and CINAHL) from inception to 20 September 2023 for any type of empirical studies. Due to the heterogeneity in interventions and inadequate reporting of results, a descriptive synthesis of studies was performed in addition to quantitative analysis. Of the 15919 initial records, 115 studies were included in the review. Most of the educational interventions focused on lifestyle-related health issues such as substance use, sexual and reproductive health, and nutrition. The popularity of health issues changed over time and depended on the geographical context. Six dimensions that differentiated the teaching methods were identified: central teaching component, central educator, pupils’ activity level, teaching context, educational materials, and significance of critical thinking. Many educational interventions did not address the development of critical thinking skills in a comprehensive manner, and the significance of critical thinking varied greatly. Interventions in which critical thinking had high and very high significance applied mainly problem-solving methods and involved pupils’ activity. The evidence on the effectiveness of the teaching methods that develop critical thinking is limited because most articles failed to provide detailed information on the teaching methods or did not examine their effects. We recommend that a checklist is developed to facilitate a detailed description of health educational interventions and thus promoting their replicability. Study registration: The protocol of the review was registered in the OSF Registries on 13 January 2022 (doi: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/46TEZ).

Cel pracy: Celem badania było opisanie piętna doświadczanego przez osoby towarzyszące swoim krewnym chorującym na schizofrenię w Polsce.Metoda: W badaniu zastosowano triangulację czterech technik jakościowych: obserwacji uczestniczącej, analizy danych zastanych, wywiadów eksperckich i pogłębionych. Zebrany materiał został przeanalizowany zgodnie z modelem zaproponowanym przez M.B. Milesa i A.M. Hubermana.Wyniki: Rozwój schizofrenii u członka rodziny stanowi okoliczność wprowadzającą jego opiekunów w pole piętna. Bliscy krewni chorującego doświadczają dyskursywnej niewidoczności problemów zdrowia psychicznego, braku zrozumienia i empatii. Siatka stygmatyzujących przekonań na temat schizofrenii i psychiatrii oraz brak wskazówek społecznych jak postępować, prowadzą do rozwoju u opiekuna stałego poczucia niepewności i poczucia zagubienia. Błędne przekonania na temat zaburzeń psychicznych przekładają się na dystans i niechęć, których opiekunowie rodzinni doświadczają w relacjach z dalszymi krewnymi, sąsiadami czy znajomymi. Rozpowszechnienie nieprzychylnego dyskursu nt. chorób psychicznych stymuluje u opiekunów antycypację wykluczenia, wstyd i ukrywanie. Ponadto, opiekunowie w kontaktach z personelem psychiatrycznym często doświadczają lekceważenia ich potrzeb oraz pesymizmu terapeutycznego. Te komponenty pola piętna zagrażają realizacji tego, co ważne dla opiekunów i przyczyniają się do rozwoju ich pozycji niemocy.Wnioski: Artykuł prezentuje wyniki pierwszego badania jakościowego poświęconego opisaniu piętna przeniesionego doświadczanego przez krewnych osób ze schizofrenią w Polsce i omawia wpływ stygmatyzującego charakteru tej choroby na życie opiekunów rodzinnych. Zrozumienie społecznego kontekstu towarzyszenia chorującym na schizofrenię jest konieczne do lepszego zaspokajania potrzeb opiekunów rodzinnych i wypracowania skuteczniejszych modeli współpracy między personelem medycznym a rodziną pacjenta.