Editor's Note
Dear colleagues - those interested in health psychology, you have in your hands the proceedings of the third all-Slovak conference of the PZ SPS section at the SAS with international participation, which took place on May 15, 2008 in the DFN premises in Bratislava. The effort to create a tradition in Slovakia, a discussion forum for the meeting of experts working in the field of health psychology, is gradually being fulfilled, especially to improve awareness in this area. The original intention of the conference was oriented towards the application of PZ in individual areas of our life, especially healthcare. Considering that the finalization of this collection was after a similar conference of PZ ČMPS, which I participated in, I have the opportunity to compare. I would like to note that the variety of topics presented, the professional approach, as well as the quality of the lectures when compared with colleagues from the Czech Republic, who have a longer tradition of organizing PZ conferences, convinced us that we do not need to be ashamed. Even the activities of young colleagues and eastern Slovakia, especially from KISH Košice, who represent health psychology abroad in a dignified way, encourage us to a certain pride and, I hope, not to premature complacency. Sometimes it is easier to jump into the saddle than to stay in it, or as we say: "at home, no one is a prophet". Unlike our colleagues from the Czech Republic, we have not yet found an optimal way to create a psychohygienic, relaxed and comfortable atmosphere for our meetings, which would resonate with the name of our meetings; this year's was extremely hectic and busy. What is certain, however, is that PZ has planted quality and, I believe, deep roots in Slovakia.
The anthology presents an example of the creation of a space for creative discussion and conflicting approaches, theories and opinions from the fields of psychology, sociology, philosophy and health ethics, which the reader of this anthology can see for himself. At the same time, it documents the current efforts, efforts and orientation of colleagues and individual workplaces from different parts of Slovakia to defend their professional position, in this, even for most psychologists, a challenging period of development of both Slovak psychology and our society. The contributions are arranged chronologically, as they were presented or included in the original program,. I believe that due to the relatively small scope, the reader will undoubtedly be able to orient himself in the individual topics.
This year's meeting also included the presentation of the book by Prof. Damián Kováč, which I deal with in a separate chapter of this collection. We did so because the expert, professional, but also human legacy of this work rightfully belonged to our event. We leave it up to the reader to consider and evaluate whether our intention was successful or not. The number of stimuli and ideas not only from the panel discussion, but also from the presented topics is an invitation to further activities. It is clear that the members, especially the committee of the section, have a lot of interesting and challenging tasks waiting for them, which concern both legislation, the preparation of quality teaching, and the further direction of PZ.
We believe that the relative lack of interest in this topic belongs to the past here. The fact that there is a growing interest in PZ among academic officials and clinicians - non-psychologists, especially at the faculties of public health, nursing and social work, in addition to SZU, is gratifying. It is questionable whether we are ready to satisfy this level of interest in the field of pre- and post-graduate education in PZ. On behalf of the section committee and the implementation team, I express the wish that in the future we meet more often and in larger numbers, less stressfully, again in May 2009 at the latest.
Dušan Selko
Contents
EDITOR'S SPEECH Dušan Selko
ADDRESS OF THE GENERAL DIRECTOR OF NÚSCH, a.s. Mongi Msolly
BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT Ivan Štúr
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CVD RISK FACTORS: RESEARCH AND INTERVENTION ACTIVITIES IN THE CR Vladimír Kebza, Iva Šolcová
MONITORING OF RISK FACTORS OF SCO IN ASYMPTOMATIC PERSONS IN THE HEALTH OFFICE OF BRATISLAVA Zora Gerová
BEHAVIORAL RISK FACTORS OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES, RISK OF HEALTH FAILURE - WHAT TO DO NEXT? Dušan Selko
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF OBESITY AT SCHOOL AGE Milada Harineková
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND PUBLIC HEALTH Pavol Malovič
NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM FROM A PSYCHOLOGIST'S VIEWPOINT Judita Stempelová
FORMATION OF ATTITUDES TO SUPPORT HEALTH IN THE FAMILY Darina Brukkerová, Ján Gajdošík, Renáta Knezovič
DIFFERENCE IN PUBLIC SPACE – NEEDS AND CONFLICTS Gabriel Bianchi
USE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL METHODS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROJECT "PREVENTION FOCUSED ON THE FIGHT AGAINST ALCOHOL, DRUGS AND TOXIC ADDICTION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE" Mária Gašparová
CONTEXTS OF PERSONAL WELL-BEING IN CZECH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS Iva Šolcová, Vladimír Kebza
PUBLICATION PRESENTATION PROF. DR. DAMIÁN KOVÁČ, DrSc., PSYCHOLOGY TO METANOI Damián Kováč, Dušan Selko
EUROPEAN ASSOCIATION OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY Peter Kolarčík et al.
PANEL DISCUSSION ON CURRENT ISSUES OF HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE Dušan Selko
QUALITY OF LIFE MEASURED BY DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES Jitka Šimíčková-Čížková, Bohumil Vašina
CLIENT PROBLEMS ON THE HIV/AIDS HOTLINE Danica Staneková
HOPE IN ONCOLOGICAL PATIENTS: DIAGNOSTIC ASPECTS Peter Halama, Lucia Príhodová
PERCEIVED HEALTH AMONG ROMA AND NON-ROMA PUBESCENTS: THE ROLE OF ETHNICITY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS Peter Kolarčík et al.
SOCIAL SUPPORT AND DEPRESSION IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS Jozef Benka et al.
HOPELESSNESS AS A HEALTH FACTOR IN ADOLESCENTS Andrea Madarasová-Gecková et al.
HUMOR IN HEALTH AND ILLNESS Robert Ďurka
OCCURRENCE OF DEPRESSIVE AND ANXIETY SYMPTOMS IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS Viera Cviková, Eva Šimúnová
CHARACTERISTICS OF EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE IN ENDURANCE SPORTS Lívia Danišová, Katarína Liptáková
YOGA TECHNIQUES AS A MEANS FOR MANAGING STRESS Juraj Gajdoš
Publisher: National Institute of Heart and Vascular Diseases, a.s., Bratislava in the Publishing House of MAURO Slovakia s.r.o. Bratislava 2009 Graphic processing: Jana Satková Print: Zuzana HEDEROVÁ – COLORPRINT, Bratislava ISBN 978–80–968092–5–7