Multiculturalism as a value in healthcare services in the Western Balkans

In this study, we aimed to examine the healthcare preferences and perspectives of citizens in the Western Balkans (namely Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina), as well as their trust toward medical professionals of various genders and ages. Almost 4,000 citizens (N = 3,789) of six countries in the Western Balkans (Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina) were surveyed using a self-reported questionnaire in this inter-country cross-sectional study. Most of the participants state that their ethnicity (86%) or religion (89%) has no effect on receiving services in healthcare institutions when the doctor is from a different ethnicity or religion (p < 0.05). One-third of the study’s participants stated that they don’t necessarily prefer to be treated by medical doctors who approach all patients of different nationalities equally. Finally, this article demonstrates that the majority of Balkan citizens had no disparities when receiving medical care from a medical doctor of a different ethnicity or religion. About one-third of the research participants nurture tolerance and diversity as a behavior culture and do not want to be treated by a doctor who discriminates against patients of different nationalitie

The Impact of Social Factors on the (dis) Harmony of Kosovar Society

Kosovo, one of the youngest countries in Europe with a rich history of the communities in Kosovo and has a character of multiethnic state with officially recognized minorities of Serbs, Bosniaks, Turks, Ashkalis, Egyptians, Gorani, and Roma. There is a lot of literature on the ethnic and demographic conflict in Kosovo between Albanian Kosovar and Kosovo Serbs, and it swings between Serb and Albanian perspectives. Almost every point made by one side is contested by the other, both sides making the similar argument in different ways at times. This research aims to detect social factors that influence the breakdown of inter-ethnic relations particularly between Albanian Kosovar and Kosovo Serbs. This research methodology is based on secondary data from published studies. The factors that have been detected and analyzed in this research are historical perspective, association of municipalities and new national identity. Belgrade continues to have a strong influence on Kosovo Serbs citizens and their fate is linked with the final status between Kosovo and Serbia. Rebuilding of trust and reconciliation between the two communities are fundamental prerequisites for inter-community peace

(Dis)trust in doctors and public and private healthcare institutions in the Western Balkans

Introduction Considering the geopolitical changes in the six Western Balkan countries—Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia—over the last three decades, particularly as it concerns the progress and changes in the healthcare systems, we argue that there is a need for a detailed analysis of people's trust in those healthcare systems and healthcare providers. Methods In this cross-sectional, intercountry study, we examine the trust trends of Western Balkans citizens in medical doctors and public and private healthcare institutions from 25 July 2021 to 30 October 2021, with 3789 participants using a self-reported questionnaire, and Google Forms. Snowball sampling is used to collect data from six Western Balkans countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Findings The primary findings of our study show that citizens in the Western Balkans have a low level of trust in their healthcare system (X̄ = 4.3/10). Medical doctors working in private healthcare institutions, on the other hand, are afforded a higher level of trust (X̄ = 6.6/10) than those working in public healthcare institutions (X̄ = 5.7/10). In the event that they or their family members need to visit a health institution, half of the study participants would choose private healthcare institutions over public ones. We found a statistically significant difference between countries on the mean points from the questions concerning one's trust in the healthcare system, private healthcare institutions and medical doctors working in public and private sectors (p < .05). Conclusion Despite its limitations, this study is the first cross-sectional research on the ‘trust interface’ among western Balkan citizens, revealing that they have low trust in their healthcare systems. Public Contribution The information in this manuscript was gathered on the level of 3789 citizens from six Western Balkan countries. Before we began collecting data, we conducted a piloting procedure with 40 citizens who were clients of health institutions to validate the data collection questionnaire

Accuracy and Speed of Emotion Recognition With Face Masks

Wearing face masks is one of the important actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among people around the world. Nevertheless, social interaction is limited via masks, and this impacts the accuracy and speed of emotional perception. In the present study, we assess the impact of mask-wearing on the accuracy and speed of emotion recognition. Fifty people (female n = 39, male n = 11) aged 19–28 participated in the study (M = 21.1 years). We used frontal photos of a Kosova woman who belonged to the same participants’ age group, with a grey background. Twelve different pictures were used that showed the emotional states of fear, joy, sadness, anger, neutrality, and disgust, in masked and unmasked conditions. The experiment was conducted in a controlled laboratory setting. Participants were faster for identifying emotions like joy (1.507 ms) and neutral (1.971 ms). The participants were more accurate (emotions identification) in unmasked faces (M = 85.7%) than in masked faces (M = 73.8%), F(1,98) = 20.73, MSE = 1027.66, p ≤ .001, partial η² = 0.17. Masks make confusion and reduce the accuracy and speediness of emotional detection. This may have a notable impact on social interactions among peoples