The Researcher, the Field and the Issue of Entry: Two Cases of Ethnographic Research Concerning Asylums in Greece

The way the researcher enters the research field can constitute a privileged mode of observing the structure and qualities of the research field, particularly in qualitative sociological inquiries. In the process of the initial contact of the researcher with a social place, especially in those cases when his/her physical presence is required, the structural features of the place gradually manifest themselves. Quite often, a strictly ‘technical’ approach to research-work tends to overlook the potential usefulness of this phase. In this article, we will put forward the hypothesis that by investigating the way research participants observe the researcher, especially during the initial stage of interaction, we can gain useful knowledge regarding particular structural aspects of the research field.Bias; Biographical-Narrative Method; Biography; Ethnographic Research; Participant Observation; Research Field

Breast cancer in contemporary Greece : economic dimensions and socio-psychological effects

The main purpose of this article is to critically complete the economic perspective regarding breast cancer offering a more spherical understanding of the disease as well focusing on its socio-psychological effects. The contribution presents some specific socio-economic features of this particular illness in contemporary Greece, emphasizing on some of the core strategies these diagnosed women apply in respect with their professional re-orientation. It as well analyses the inter-subjective experience of breast cancer in as much as participants record it as a turning point regarding their economic status, socio-psychological state, biographies and overall relationships. The paper is based both on qualitative research, grounded on fourteen biographical interviews with Greek women, experiencing breast cancer and mastectomy and on quantitative data provided by secondary inquiry. In an integrated view, it is possible to formulate some preliminary conceptual tools that can account for the economic dimensions and socio-psychological implications of the disease. Besides, we present the energetic strategies these women employ to mitigate personal suffering and transform their “harmed” body to an energetic source of professional re-orientations and biographical re-constitutions.peer-reviewe

Smoke-free hospitals in Greece: Personnel perceptions, compliance and smoking habit

Smoke-free environments in Greece are scarce. Despite existent legislation that forbids smoking in all health care service centers, smoking is still evident. Using a random sample of hospital personnel from a large university hospital in Greece, we evaluated their smoking habits, perceptions and compliance towards hospital smoking regulations. 57.8% of the nursing personnel and 34.5% of medical/research staff were found to be current smokers (p < 0.05). Although 66% of the staff does not oppose the complete hospital smoking ban, 95% responded that they would prefer it to be partial. The above findings warrant the necessity for nurturing efforts to reduce smoking and increase the health professionals' awareness of their position as a role model to both patients and the society

Effects of Greek orthodox christian church fasting on serum lipids and obesity

BACKGROUND: No study to date has focused on the impact of Greek Orthodox Christian fasting on serum lipoproteins and obesity yet. METHODS: 120 Greek adults were followed longitudinally for one year. Sixty fasted regularly in all fasting periods (fasters) and 60 did not fast at all (controls). The three major fasting periods under study were: Christmas (40 days), Lent (48 days) and Assumption (August, 15 days). A total of 6 measurements were made during one year including pre- and end-fasting blood collection, serum lipoprotein analyses and anthropometric measurements. RESULTS: Statistically significant end-fasting total and LDL cholesterol differences were found in fasters. Fasters compared to controls presented 12.5% lower end-total cholesterol (p < 0.001), 15.9% lower end-LDL cholesterol (p < 0.001) and 1.5% lower end-BMI (p < 0.001). The end- LDL/HDL ratio was lower in fasters (6.5%, p < 0.05) while the change in end- HDL cholesterol in fasters (4.6% decline) was not significant. Similar results were found when the pre- and end-fasting values of fasters were compared. No change was found in control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Adherence to Greek Orthodox fasting periods contributes to a reduction in the blood lipid profile including a non-significant reduction in HDL cholesterol and possible impact on obesity

Gérer son « soi souffrant » : pédagogie d’autonomie et expérience psychiatrique

In the context of public psychiatry, therapy is often associated with a strategy to educate the patient to develop self control. This process is supposed to eventually contribute to his/her psychosocial rehabilitation. Therapy is a very effective device of subjectivation, a mechanism that leads the individual to organize his life plan. Therapy is a set of processes that results to the formation of the new individuality. In Greece, from the 80’s up to the current economic crisis, the aforementioned therapeutic practices have been dynamically developed. In this article, we present the results of the analysis of a corpus of 94 letters exchanged by two forty-year-old men, who, after diagnosis, suffer from bipolar disorder. This correspondence, maintained between 2002 and 2006, is the result of their hospital experience in a traditional institution. The crucial element that emerges from these letters is the way they manage their disease after their common asylum experience. The language used in their correspondence reveals the contradictory and ambiguous attempt to cope with their illness and the urgent need to organize their lives by accepting the therapeutic and educational intervention of the professionals. The strategies that the social agents develop problematize their identity, in such a way that it is linked to the most modern forms of being yourself. The result is an extensive perception of mental illness, where life as a whole is considered ill. The management of this life is a hybrid because it is based on the prevailing and historically conducted boundaries of the psychic, the biological and the social

Breast Cancer in Contemporary Greece: Economic Dimensions and Socio-Psychological Effects

The main purpose of this article is to critically complete the economic perspective regarding breast cancer offering a more spherical understanding of the disease as well focusing on its socio-psychological effects. The contribution presents some specific socio-economic features of this particular illness in contemporary Greece, emphasizing on some of the core strategies these diagnosed women apply in respect with their professional re-orientation. It as well analyses the inter-subjective experience of breast cancer in as much as participants record it as a turning point regarding their economic status, socio-psychological state, biographies and overall relationships. The paper is based both on qualitative research, grounded on fourteen biographical interviews with Greek women, experiencing breast cancer and mastectomy and on quantitative data provided by secondary inquiry. In an integrated view, it is possible to formulate some preliminary conceptual tools that can account for the economic dimensions and socio-psychological implications of the disease. Besides, we present the energetic strategies these women employ to mitigate personal suffering and transform their harmed body to an energetic source of professional re-orientations and biographical re-constitutions.The main purpose of this article is to critically complete the economic perspective regarding breast cancer offering a more spherical understanding of the disease as well focusing on its socio-psychological effects. The contribution presents some specific socio-economic features of this particular illness in contemporary Greece, emphasizing on some of the core strategies these diagnosed women apply in respect with their professional re-orientation. It as well analyses the inter-subjective experience of breast cancer in as much as participants record it as a turning point regarding their economic status, socio-psychological state, biographies and overall relationships. The paper is based both on qualitative research, grounded on fourteen biographical interviews with Greek women, experiencing breast cancer and mastectomy and on quantitative data provided by secondary inquiry. In an integrated view, it is possible to formulate some preliminary conceptual tools that can account for the economic dimensions and socio-psychological implications of the disease. Besides, we present the energetic strategies these women employ to mitigate personal suffering and transform their harmed body to an energetic source of professional re-orientations and biographical re-constitutions

Second Hand Smoke Exposure and Excess Heart Disease and Lung Cancer Mortality among Hospital Staff in Crete, Greece: A Case Study

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is a serious threat to public health, and a significant cause of lung cancer and heart disease among non-smokers. Even though Greek hospitals have been declared smoke free since 2002, smoking is still evident. Keeping the above into account, the aim of this study was to quantify the levels of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and to estimate the attributed lifetime excess heart disease and lung cancer deaths per 1000 of the hospital staff, in a large Greek public hospital. Environmental airborne respirable suspended particles (RSP) of PM2.5 were performed and the personnel’s excess mortality risk was estimated using risk prediction formulas. Excluding the intensive care unit and the operating theatres, all wards and clinics were polluted with environmental tobacco smoke. Mean SHS-RSP measurements ranged from 11 to 1461 μg/m3 depending on the area. Open wards averaged 84 μg/m3 and the managing wards averaged 164 μg/m3 thus giving an excess lung cancer and heart disease of 1.12 (range 0.23-1.88) and 11.2 (range 2.3–18.8) personnel in wards and 2.35 (range 0.55-12.2) and 23.5 (range 5.5–122) of the managing staff per 1000 over a 40-year lifespan, respectively. Conclusively, SHS exposure in hospitals in Greece is prevalent and taking into account the excess heart disease and lung cancer mortality risk as also the immediate adverse health effects of SHS exposure, it is clear that proper implementation and enforcement of the legislation that bans smoking in hospitals is imperative to protect the health of patients and staff alike

Second Hand Smoke Exposure and Excess Heart Disease and Lung Cancer Mortality among Hospital Staff in Crete, Greece: A Case Study

Exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is a serious threat to public health, and a significant cause of lung cancer and heart disease among non-smokers. Even though Greek hospitals have been declared smoke free since 2002, smoking is still evident. Keeping the above into account, the aim of this study was to quantify the levels of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and to estimate the attributed lifetime excess heart disease and lung cancer deaths per 1000 of the hospital staff, in a large Greek public hospital. Environmental airborne respirable suspended particles (RSP) of PM2.5 were performed and the personnel’s excess mortality risk was estimated using risk prediction formulas. Excluding the intensive care unit and the operating theatres, all wards and clinics were polluted with environmental tobacco smoke. Mean SHS-RSP measurements ranged from 11 to 1461 μg/m3 depending on the area. Open wards averaged 84 μg/m3 and the managing wards averaged 164 μg/m3 thus giving an excess lung cancer and heart disease of 1.12 (range 0.23-1.88) and 11.2 (range 2.3–18.8) personnel in wards and 2.35 (range 0.55-12.2) and 23.5 (range 5.5–122) of the managing staff per 1000 over a 40-year lifespan, respectively. Conclusively, SHS exposure in hospitals in Greece is prevalent and taking into account the excess heart disease and lung cancer mortality risk as also the immediate adverse health effects of SHS exposure, it is clear that proper implementation and enforcement of the legislation that bans smoking in hospitals is imperative to protect the health of patients and staff alike