Regional Formation and Development Studies

The current study presents the research and analysis of scientific literature for 2001 to 2025. The article reveals the links and interactions between democracy, health and healthcare, allowing for the possibility to assess the impact of democracy on health and healthcare. It investigates the assumptions and factors of healthcare democratisation at the systemic and organisational levels. The activity of democratic processes in crisis situations (the Covid-19 pandemic, etc), when people’s rights and freedoms are partially restricted, is analysed. In some countries there are trends in declining levels of democracy, including healthcare systems. The article discusses patients’ opportunities to influence decisions related to their health and healthcare, and to choose their doctor and healthcare organisation.

This article highlights the need to increase the variety of support available to health-care professionals to maintain their mental health and reduce stigma. The medical profession involves caring for the well-being of others. Resources of positive emotion are exhausted over time. The body becomes susceptible to stress. The extracts from interviews and case studies presented in this article illustrate well the quality of life of medical staff in the Covid-19 period. If this state persists for a long time, it can lead to the complete exhaustion of physical and mental health, which affects a person’s motivation, attitude and behaviour towards their health, work, relationships and life. Pre-existing negative attitudes towards the promotion and improvement of mental health have had a negative impact on health and have led to suicide. It should be noted that the suicide risk rate among doctors is twice as high as in the general population. The importance of maintaining the mental hygiene of medical staff during the Covid-19 period, as a prerequisite for a quality lifestyle, is emphasised.

The spectrum of the links between the quality of life and health has been expanding due to the phenomenon of health acquiring features of a social phenomenon and growing complexity. The research evidenced that health was considered to be one of the most important, and often the most important, dimension of the quality of life. To more comprehensively identify the health-related factors that affected the quality of life in general, the concept of the health-related quality of life has been developed. In our research 1763 children filled KIDSCREEN52 surveys which evidence tendency as follows: even though two thirds of the children did not indicate they had health disorders, only one third of them assessed their health as excellent and very good. This demonstrates that, in the children’s assessment of health, both the absence of a disease or disability and also psychological and social factors are important.

This paper explores the relationship between paternal religious affiliation, practice, and health behavior, namely consumption of alcohol. This research models alcohol consumption as an aggregate sum of weekly glasses of wine, 50 ml vodka shots, half-liter bottles of beer, and cocktails. The model includes religious confession among other independent variables including self-reported health status. In confessional comparison, the largest fraction, Catholic, is the reference category opposite Orthodox, Protestant, Other non-affiliated believers and Atheist. Significantly, Other believers and Lithuanian Protestants consumed significantly more alcohol than Catholic respondents. A unit increase in prayer or religious reading did not significantly predict a change in alcohol consumption. However a unit increase in weekly work hours significantly decreases alcohol consumption in contrast to a unit increase in time spent with children. Higher consumption is associated with lower self-reported health status.

The aim of the research is to explore the application of health promoting PA education methods applied by teachers of physical education in basic school. The survey included 136 teachers of physical education working in comprehensive schools of five Lithuanian cities and districts (Klaipėda, Kaunas, Kretinga, Šilalė, and Mažeikiai) selected by the convenience sampling method. Teacher survey was conducted in November – December 2012 by the academic staff of the Department of Physical Education of Klaipeda University. The article deals with some aspects of health promotion of non-exercising schoolchildren by physical activity in the context of the contemporary society. The outcomes of the conducted qualitative research and their interpretation are presented. The views of teachers of physical education on the physical activity promotion methods are analyzed, as well as their insights into the issue of physical activity promotion methods at school and major motives of schoolchildren’s exercising.