Functional health literacy of asylum seekers and refugees. A pilot study in italy

Literature shows how some groups of populations, among which are people seeking international protection and refugees, find it difficult to access services in national health systems. Usually, asylum seekers have limited Health Literacy (HL), which makes understanding the appropriate health information difficult. The objective of this research is to consider the relationship between how people requesting international protection and refugees approach the Italian Health System to request health services and their level of Functional Health Literacy (FHL). These relationships are examined through mixed methods. Data were obtained using several tools: a self-administered questionnaire in which the subjects revealed social and demographic data and a face-to-face interview together with the S-FHL Scale fulfilment in order to identify the functional level of HL. Twenty-one subjects were interviewed in two Centers of Protection System for Asylum Seekers and Refugees (SPRAR). Results show a picture of the actual situation. Data report a problematic or insufficient FHL level. Some factors, such as gender, age and health perceptions, play a role in the FHL levels. Some racial prejudices were reported. Language barriers had the most impact on the communication gap. Nevertheless, none of the subjects were denied health services. In conclusion, although this study is a pilot, we have experienced difficulty in obtaining asylum seekers’ trust to be open about their experience. This explains the number of the sample that should be more indicated for a qualitative study. Our results are in accordance with literature for inadequate level of FHL and lack of knowledge of the Italian Health System. This study highlighted several other issues to be taken into consideration for future research on the subject

Homes as workplaces at the intersection of migration, care and gender regimes

If homes can be seen as a microcosm that interfaces with wider political, social and economic (national and transnational) processes, in relation to migration homes are to be considered a crucial site of ‘everyday bordering’, the separation between migrants and non-migrants which takes place in everyday encounters. In this light, this chapter elaborates on the fact that for migrants the homes in which they live in the host-country often do not correspond to the homes where they live or used to live with their family. In particular, it discusses the fact that migrants, especially women, often live together with the family of their employers for whom they work as nannies, cleaners or caregivers, and thus such homes are both their accommodation and their workplace

A forest typology for monitoring sustainable forest management: The case of European Forest Types

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is presently widely accepted as the overriding objective for forest policy and practice. Regional processes are in progress all over the world to develop and implement criteria and indicators of SFM. In continental Europe, a set of 35 Pan-European indicators has been endorsed under the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) to measure progress towards SFM in the 44 countries of the region. The formulation of seven indicators (forest area, growing stock, age structure/diameter distribution, deadwood, tree species composition, damaging agents, naturalness) requires national data to be reported by forest types. Within the vast European forest area the values taken by these indicators show a considerable range of variation, due to variable natural conditions and anthropogenic influences. Given this variability, it is very difficult to grasp the meaning of these indicators when taken out of their ecological background. The paper discusses the concepts behind, and the requirements of, a classification more soundly ecologically framed and suitable for MCPFE reporting than the three (un-informative) classes adopted so far: broadleaved forest, coniferous forest, mixed broadleaved and coniferous forest. We propose a European Forest Types scheme structured into a reasonably higher number of classes, that would improve the specificity of the indicators reported under the MCPFE process and its understanding.L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore www.tandf.co.uk/journals

A single learning activity for large interprofessional group can boost the perception of value of interprofessional education

Introduction. The interprofessional education activity consisted in a single 4 hours meeting and it was built on three theoretical pillars: the framework of Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC), Kolb’s model of experiential learning, and Vygotsky’s concept of social learning. The objectives of the activity were to enable students to identify the elements of IPEC framework in a healthcare situation and to show awareness of the value of interprofessional collaborative practice. Materials and methods. The meeting was composed by different phases: introduction and sharing of objectives and methods, followed by two cycles of short lecture, small group activity and large group discussion. At the beginning and at the end of the meeting, a questionnaire with items exploring students’ attitude on interprofessional collaboration was administered. A questionnaire of satisfaction was also administered at the end of the meeting. Eighty-four students at the last year of different degree course of health care professions (nursing, midwifery, psychiatric rehabilitation) joined the meeting. Results. The pre-post test mean values for the items of the questionnaire of assessment significantly increased for all students. The Cronbach alpha value of the questionnaire was 0.75, indicating an acceptable level of internal reliability. The scores of the satisfaction questionnaire were largely positive. Conclusion. This study shows that single learning activity for a large interprofessional group can be effective in increasing a positive attitude and provides some data on students' perceptions on interprofessional learning in an Italian context.Introduction. The interprofessional education activity consisted in a single 4 hours meeting and it was built on three theoretical pillars: the framework of Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice (IPEC), Kolb’s model of experiential learning, and Vygotsky’s concept of social learning. The objectives of the activity were to enable students to identify the elements of IPEC framework in a healthcare situation and to show awareness of the value of interprofessional collaborative practice. Materials and methods. The meeting was composed by different phases: introduction and sharing of objectives and methods, followed by two cycles of short lecture, small group activity and large group discussion. At the beginning and at the end of the meeting, a questionnaire with items exploring students’ attitude on interprofessional collaboration was administered. A questionnaire of satisfaction was also administered at the end of the meeting. Eighty-four students at the last year of different degree course of health care professions (nursing, midwifery, psychiatric rehabilitation) joined the meeting. Results. The pre-post test mean values for the items of the questionnaire of assessment significantly increased for all students. The Cronbach alpha value of the questionnaire was 0.75, indicating an acceptable level of internal reliability. The scores of the satisfaction questionnaire were largely positive. Conclusion. This study shows that single learning activity for a large interprofessional group can be effective in increasing a positive attitude and provides some data on students' perceptions on interprofessional learning in an Italian context

European forest types and forest Europe SFM indicators: tools for monitoring progress on forest biodiversity conservation

Since 2003 the MCPFE-Forest Europe process has adopted a set of Pan-European Indicators that has become a policy instrument to monitor, evaluate and report progress towards sustainable forest management (SFM). Two new experimental tools have been introduced in the framework of the «State of Forests and Sustainable Forest Management in Europe 2011»: (i) pilot reporting by 14 classes of European Forest Types (EFTs) for a selection of quantitative SFM indicators; (ii) key parameters for monitoring progress for all quantitative indicators. The main aim of this paper is to discuss whether reporting by EFTs of key forest biodiversity-related parameters can improve the way forest biodiversity conservation policy targets are addressed and evaluated in Europe. Accordingly, data on SFM indicators for a sample of European countries (ranging from 6 to 28, depending on indicators) have been processed and analyzed in a pilot study using a question-driven approach, so that information from monitoring could direct policy action. The main findings show that: – forest area has been significantly increasing (>0.2% per year) in the period 2000–2010; however, annual changes in forest cover by EFTs reveal a polyedric picture at country level, in terms of gain and loss of forest habitat dominated by native and introduced tree species; – old even aged forests (>140 yrs) are fairly consistent (>5%) only in a few countries and limited to specific EFTs; – in naturally species-poor EFTs (e.g. Boreal forest, Alpine coniferous forest, Broadleaved evergreen forest) single species stands cover from 15–100% of the total area, while in species rich EFTs (e.g. Mesophytic deciduous forest, Thermophilous deciduous forest) the maximum share of single species is in the order of 30%; – deadwood amount ranges from 9 to 26 m3 ha 1, a value which is however far below natural reference values found in European old growth forests (160 m3 ha 1). Findings from this test demonstrate that reporting of key forest biodiversity-related parameters by EFTs enables question-driven monitoring in many ways: (i) reporting by EFTs helps to interpret the variability in the values taken by the indicators explicitly considering ecological differences between EFTs; (ii) temporal trends in forest area can be interpreted in terms of expansion or loss of forest habitats dominated by native and introduced tree species; (iii) progress in implementing biodiversity friendly strategies (e.g. increasing share of old even aged forests, promotion of multispecies stands and accumulation of deadwood) can be quantitatively evaluated against baselines.L'articolo è disponibile sul sito dell'editore http://www.sciencedirect.co

Diachronic analysis of the urban expansion of Amazonian cities through GIS tools and remote sensing: the case of Iquitos in Peru

openAl giorno d’oggi una grande quantità di informazioni sulla superficie terrestre è disponibile grazie a sistemi di telerilevamento come i satelliti. Queste tecnologie si sono sviluppate negli ultimi decenni, consentendo il loro utilizzo in molteplici aree di ricerca. In particolare, l’installazione di sensori multispettrali nei satelliti ha permesso l’acquisizione di dati importanti per lo studio dei diversi elementi che compongono il paesaggio terrestre. In questa tesi i dati raccolti grazie a queste tecnologie saranno utilizzati con lo scopo di analizzare lo sviluppo di una città situata nella foresta amazzonica peruviana. Nel capitolo 1 saranno introdotti i sistemi di telerilevamento e GIS utilizzati e sarà svolto un inquadramento geografico dell’area presa in considerazione, ovvero dell'Amazzonia peruviana e in particolare della città di Iquitos, la quale sarà descritta soffermandosi sulle sue principali caratteristiche e la sua storia. Saranno trattate anche le diverse problematiche causate dall'espansione urbana in questo territorio e saranno discusse alcune strategie utili per contrastarle. Nello specifico, saranno approfonditi i temi trattati durante il tirocinio in alcuni incontri del programma Virtual Exchange To Tackle Wicked Problems (VAMOS, progetto KA2 Erasmus+) insieme a studenti brasiliani dell’Università Federale di Parà. Il capitolo 2 sarà dedicato alla descrizione delle metodologie usate per lo svolgimento dell’analisi diacronica dell’area di studio nell’arco temporale considerato. Nella prima parte del lavoro saranno ottenute delle immagini Landsat con le quali saranno poi eseguite delle analisi tramite il software QGIS volte ad individuare l’estensione del suolo urbanizzato nell’area considerata. I dati ricavati saranno poi elaborati per poter illustrare sia qualitativamente che quantitativamente lo sviluppo della città considerata. Il capitolo 3 sarà destinato alla presentazione, alla discussione e al confronto dei risultati ottenuti dalle diverse analisi allo scopo di poter evidenziare i processi e le dinamiche dell’espansione urbana nell’area di studio. Infine, il capitolo 4 sarà dedicato alle possibili conclusioni che possono essere tratte da questo elaborato

Il Governo legislatore e la metamorfosi della separazione dei poteri

L'intervento ricostruisce la prassi recente sulla delagazione legislativa

Repositioned natural compounds and nanoformulations: a promising combination to counteract cell damage and inflammation in respiratory viral infections

Respiratory viral diseases are among the most important causes of disability, morbidity, and death worldwide. Due to the limited efficacy or side effects of many current therapies and the increase in antiviral-resistant viral strains, the need to find new compounds to counteract these infections is growing. Since the development of new drugs is a time-consuming and expensive process, numerous studies have focused on the reuse of commercially available compounds, such as natural molecules with therapeutic properties. This phenomenon is generally called drug repurposing or repositioning and represents a valid emerging strategy in the drug discovery field. Unfortunately, the use of natural compounds in therapy has some limitations, due to their poor kinetic performance and consequently reduced therapeutic effect. The advent of nanotechnology in biomedicine has allowed this limitation to be overcome, showing that natural compounds in nanoform may represent a promising strategy against respiratory viral infections. In this narrative review, the beneficial effects of some promising natural molecules, curcumin, resveratrol, quercetin, and vitamin C, which have been already studied both in native form and in nanoform, against respiratory viral infections are presented and discussed. The review focuses on the ability of these natural compounds, analyzed in in vitro and in vivo studies, to counteract inflammation and cellular damage induced by viral infection and provide scientific evidence of the benefits of nanoformulations in increasing the therapeutic potential of these molecules