The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all societies worldwide. The heightened levels of stress that accompanied the crisis were also expected to affect parenting in many families. Since it is known that high levels of stress in the parenting domain can lead to a condition that has severe consequences for health and well-being, we examined whether the prevalence of parental burnout in 26 countries (9,923 parents; 75% mothers; mean age 40) increased during COVID-19 compared to few years before the pandemic. In most (but not all) countries, analyses showed a significant increase in the prevalence of parental burnout during the pandemic. The results further revealed that next to governmental measures (e.g., number of days locked down, homeschooling) and factors at the individual and family level (e.g., gender, number of children), parents in less (vs. more) indulgent countries suffered more from parental burnout. The findings suggest that stricter norms regarding their parenting roles and duties in general and during the pandemic in particular might have increased their levels of parental burnout.

Health and social care systems in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries have undergone significant changes and are currently dealing with serious problems of system disintegration, coordination and a lack of control over the market environment. The increased health needs related to the ageing society and epidemiological patterns in these countries also require funding needs to increase, rationing to be reformed, sectors to be integrated (the managed care approach), and an analytical information base to be developed if supervision of new technological approaches is to improve. The period of system transitions in CEE countries entailed significant changes in their health systems, including health care financing. Large deficits in the public financing of health systems were just one of the challenges arising from the economic downturn of the 1990s, which was coupled with inflation, increasing unemployment, low salaries, a large informal sector and tax evasion in a number of CEE countries. During the communist period, there was universal access to a wide range of health services, proving it difficult to retain this coverage. As a result, many states sought to ration publicly funded health services – for example, through patient cost-sharing or decreasing the scope of basic benefits. Yet, not all of these reform plans were implemented, and in fact, some were rolled back or not implemented at all due to a lack of social or political consensus. CEE health systems had come to practice implicit rationing in the form of under-the-table payments from patients, quasi-formal payments to providers to compensate for lack of funding, and long waiting lists forcing patients to the private sector. All these difficulties pose a challenge to the implementation of integrated care.

Background: In our modern era, stress has become a pervasive challenge, affecting individuals across all ages and backgrounds. Acute or chronic stress and elevated cortisol levels are known to impair neurological function and hinder rehabilitation outcomes. Therefore, effective treatment methods that reduce stress, enhance mental health, and promote overall well-being are urgently needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seasonal impact of balneotherapy on distress, as measured by the General Symptoms Distress Scale (GSDS), and well-being, as assessed using the Arizona Integrative Outcomes Scale (AIOS), and the effect of winter balneotherapy on salivary cortisol levels. Methods: In 2023, a multicenter, single-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial was carried out across six medical spa centers in Lithuania. Participants with a stress intensity greater than 3 points on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) underwent combined natural resource-based therapies over a 1- to 2-week treatment period. Outcomes were assessed using the General Symptom Distress and Arizona Integrative Outcomes scales, along with salivary cortisol measurements after winter intervention. Results: The results demonstrated a significant reduction in distress intensity by 1–3.5 points (VAS), with winter interventions showing greater efficacy compared to summer. Participants also experienced an increase in well-being by up to 3 points (VAS), improved stress management by up to 1.9 points (VAS), and a reduction in salivary cortisol levels by 0.9 units following winter-based treatments. Some gender differences emerged in specific groups. Conclusions: Our study provides robust evidence for the stress-reducing effects of balneotherapy, particularly highlighting the enhanced efficacy of winter interventions. These findings are especially relevant for neurological rehabilitation, where stress reduction and improved autonomic regulation can support neuroplasticity, recovery processes, and overall quality of life. This research offers valuable insights for developing holistic, seasonally optimized strategies to aid stress management and promote neurological health.

Social competences, and particularly good communication skills, are becoming increasingly important in contemporary professional environment. Although studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of different training strategies, many Lithuanian higher education institutions have not yet incorporated the training of communication skills in their curriculum. The aim of this paper is to assess the communication skills of healthcare students in Lithuania and indicate the benefits of their development. Students graduating from a variety of health sciences study programs (N=118) self-assessed their communication skills. The results show that participants their communication skills as average with some potential strengths, i.e. ability to talk about things of interest to every person in conversation, recognizing how others are reacting to what is being said, not interrupting others in the conversation, understanding other people’s feelings, ability to praise the person, etc. On the other hand, some skills and abilities need to be improved, i.e. expressing opinion in a non-aggressive manner, as well as thinking and speaking clearly, while being emotional.

Physical activity is an important factor for primary and secondary stroke prevention. The process of stroke rehabilitation includes early and late physical activity and exercise, which prevents further stoke and improve patients’ quality of life. MY WAY project, an ERASMUS+ SPORT program, is aimed at analyzing and developing or transferring best innovative practices related to physical activity and exercise enhancing health in poststroke patients. The aim of the study was to identify, analyze, and present the good practices and strategies to encourage participation in sport and physical activity and engage and motivate chronic stroke patients to perform physical activity changing their lifestyle and to maintain a high adherence to long‐term exercise‐based rehabilitation programs. Our results demonstrated that unified European stroke long‐term exercise‐based rehabilitation guidelines do not exist. It seems that low training frequency with high aerobic exercise intensity may be optimal for improved physical performance and quality of life in combination with a high adherence. It is important to optimize the training protocols suitable for each patient. The continuous education and training of the specialized professionals in this field and the presence of adequate structures and cooperation between different healthcare centers are important contributors. The clear objective for each country should be to systematically make the necessary steps to enhance overall exercise‐based stroke rehabilitation attendance in the long term. Long‐term interventions to support the importance of physical exercise and lifelong exercise‐based rehabilitation in chronic stroke patients should be created, what coincides with the goal of the MY WAY project.