Background: Chronic non-malignant pain represents a growing global public health priority. Chronic pain is multifactorial, with numerous biological, psychological, and social factors contributing to this pain syndrome. It affects not only the patients, impairing their quality of life, but also their family and social environment. Chronic pain is a diagnosis and requires effective and sustainable treatment strategies. Objective: Our aim was to critically review the available evidence on the importance of different approaches in treating patients with chronic non-malignant pain, emphasizing the effectiveness of integrating psychological and social factors within a multidisciplinary framework. Methods: This was a non-systematic narrative review of the basic and recent literature analyzing approaches to the treatment of chronic non-malignant pain. The inclusion criteria for the papers were chronic non-malignant pain, treatment approach, review, and original research papers published in English in the last five years (PubMed search), and the basic literature was selected from the references of new papers according to the knowledge and experience of the authors. Results: This literature review included 120 papers, of which 83 were basic, and 37 were new, published in the last 5 years (2018–2023). The results show that both the basic and newly published literature advocate for a biopsychosocial approach to treating chronic pain. Conclusions: New findings, compared to the earlier literature, indicate a new classification of chronic pain into primary and secondary. Chronic pain should be approached with a biopsychosocial model within a multidisciplinary treatment framework. This model addresses the complex interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors, offering a holistic strategy for effective pain management.

Self-care is often the first choice for people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Self-care includes the use of non-prescription medications with no doctor’s supervision, as well as the use of other modern and traditional treatment methods with no consultation of the health care provider. Self-care may have positive effects on the successful outcome of a multidisciplinary approach to treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences and attitudes of patients and health care providers to the self-care of chronic musculoskeletal pain. Qualitative Phenomenological study, where the data were collected by the method of an audio-taped interview in 15 patients at the outpatient clinic for pain management and in 20 health care providers involved in the treatment of those patients. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed by principles of Interpretative Thematic Analysis. Topics identified in patients: a) positive aspects of self-care, b) a need for pain self-care, c) social aspects of pain self-care. Topics identified in health care providers: a) aspects of self-care, b) a need for self-care c) risks of self-care. Most of patients have positive attitude to self-care and this is the first step to pain management and to care for itself. The most frequent factors influencing decision about the self-care are heavy pain, unavailability of the doctor, long awaiting time for the therapy, or ineffectiveness of methods of conventional medicine. The health care providers believe that self-care of chronic musculoskeletal pain may be a patient’s contribution to clinical treatment. However, good awareness of methods used is important in this context, to avoid adverse effects of self-care. Patients understand the self-care of musculoskeletal pain as an individually adjusted treatment and believe in its effectiveness. Health care providers support self-care as an adjunction to clinical management only, and think that self-care of musculoskeletal pain acts as a placebo, with a short-lived effect on chronic musculoskeletal pain.

Croatia and Slovenia were the transit countries on the Balkan route for migrants and refugees from Middle East countries in 2015 and 2016. They had to optimize health care delivery in the special circumstances in refugee camps and transit centres. Little is known about health care provision in border camps where a large number of migrants stay for only couple of hours. Previous studies emphasize that language barriers and cultural differences play a central part in the relationship between health workers and migrants inside the transit zone. The aim of the study was to identify specific characteristics of health care provision experienced by primary healthcare providers in order to prepare solutions on how to organise health care in refugee settings. Twelve thematic interviews were conducted in the middle of the most intense migration movements to the North-West Europe between November and December 2015 with health workers from Croatia and Slovenia. Interview transcripts were read, coded, reviewed, and labelled. We used qualitative content analysis. Four themes about the health service provision for refugees at Schengen border were identified. The circumstance when mutual understanding is poor and the consultation not successful, cultural differences represent a central barrier. Participants highlighted that the importance of respecting human dignity is crucial for the provision of basic medical care for migrants in transit. Successful overcoming language barriers, respecting cultural differences, humanity, susceptibility to social deprivation and traumatic experiences are the key factors important for organisation of health care in transit centers and camps. This article gives some useful tips for healthcare workers and policy makers who are participating in health services provision for migrants and other refugees. Health workers should be prepared to work in special working conditions with a lack of resources. Their work would require timely planning and reflection on the organization of more transit camps. Ethical Committee of the Republic of Slovenia approved the study as a project number 112/02/16.

Background: Chronic pain is a global public health issue with increasing prevalence. Chronic pain causes sleep disorder, reactive anxiety, and depression, impairs the quality of life; it burdens the individual and society as a whole. The aim of this study was to examine non-medical factors related to the outcome of the treatment of chronic non-malignant pain. Methods: A cross-sectional study with two groups of patients was conducted using a questionnaire with biological, psychological, and social characteristics of patients. Since this study was cross-sectional, it was not possible to determine whether some factors were the cause or the consequence of unsuccessful treatment outcome, which is at the same time one of the disadvantages of cross-sectional studies. Results: The poor outcome of the treatment of chronic non-malignant pain in a multivariate binary logistic regression model was statistically significantly associated with the lower quality of life (OR = 0.95 (95% CI: 0.91–0.99; p = 0.009), and higher depression level OR = 1.08 (95% CI: 1.02–1.14; p = 0.009). The outcome of the treatment was not directly related to social support measured by the multivariate binary logistic regression model (OR = 1.04, 95% CI: 0.95–1.15, p = 0.395), but solitary life (without partner) was (OR = 2.16 (95% CI: 1.03–4.53; p = 0.043). Conclusion: The typical patient with a poor pain management outcome is retired, presents depressive behavior; their pain disturbs general activity and sleeping. Moreover, they have a physically disturbed quality of life and require self-treatment due to the inaccessibility of doctors and therapies. The principle of treatment of patients with chronic, non-malignant pain should take into account a biopsychosocial approach with individually adjusted procedures.

The caregivers of children suffering from rare diseases face numerous emotional, social, economic, organizational, and other difficulties, which can significantly impair their quality of life and mental health. Therefore, among other things, it is important to understand the factors which can influence psychosocial well-being. This research aimed to explore the association between healthcare satisfaction and social support and stress, depression, and life satisfaction in caregivers, with a moderating role of the ill child’s dependence on their caregiver. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 185 female caregivers of children with rare diseases. The data were analysed by using hierarchical regression analysis to examine the moderating effect of the child’s dependence. Results: Lower dependence of the child moderated the association between a higher level of healthcare satisfaction and reduced stress and a higher level of life satisfaction. Furthermore, lower child dependence moderated the association between a higher level of social support and a reduction in depression. In contrast, this association was absent in female caregivers with highly dependent children. On the other hand, the research confirmed that a higher level of social support led to stress reduction and increased life satisfaction in all respondents, regardless of the child’s dependence. Furthermore, the research confirmed that higher levels of healthcare satisfaction are associated with a reduction in depression in caregivers, regardless of the child’s dependence level. Conclusion: This research highlights the importance of providing adequate social support and high-quality healthcare in order to improve the psychosocial well-being of caregivers of children with rare diseases. Interventions to increase this support can reduce stress and depression and increase caregivers’ life satisfaction. Thus, future research should focus on the development and evaluation of specific interventions that support these factors.

Introduction: Mass media play a crucial role not only in informing the public but also in shaping public perception, educating, and enhancing the visibility of various professions, including nursing. Despite being the most populous healthcare profession, nursing remains underrepresented in media coverage. This imbalance affects the social status of the nursing profession and its public perception. Methods: This cross-sectional study utilized a validated questionnaire with high internal reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficients) to assess nurses’ perceptions of the media’s role in society and the nursing profession. Data were collected from 203 participants using an online survey employing the snowball sampling method. Statistical analyses included Welch ANOVA, t-tests, and hierarchical regression to predict the importance of media education. Results: Participants demonstrated positive perceptions of the media’s societal influence but identified a lack of adequate representation of nurses. Younger nurses and those with higher education levels emphasized the need for media education. Regression analysis revealed that perceptions of the media’s power and self-assessed media competencies were significant predictors of valuing media education. Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for integrating media literacy training into nursing education to enhance professional visibility and public engagement. This can empower nurses to actively contribute to shaping their professional image and addressing public misconceptions. Future research should expand the sample size and explore diverse healthcare settings to validate these findings.