Vol 21, No 1 (2022)

To solve the problems of improving public health management, the article proposes the use of the methodology of the sociological approach. In the process of organizational modeling, a conceptual model for organizing medical and sociological monitoring of the results of strategic planning for the development of territorial health care was designed. Medical and sociological monitoring of the results of strategic planning for the development of regional healthcare can be an additional management tool in the healthcare system.

Based on a historical and economic analysis of the main vectors of financial support for the health care system of the Moscow region from 2010 to 2021, the author proposes an organizational mechanism for the implementation of the developed plans by creating a regional settlement and economic analytical center, which should gather financial, economic and other information from legal entities of compulsory medical insurance and medical organizations participating in the implementation of the State strategic program of the Moscow region «Healthcare Moscow region» for 2019–2024 to analyze the effectiveness of the use of significant allocated funds, and to carry out the current adjustment of the value of tariffs for medical services under the Basic Compulsory Medical Insurance Program, calculated in accordance with the Tariff Agreement for the corresponding calendar year, taking into account the opinion and assessment of all participants in this process, especially the patients themselves.

BACKGROUND: In Russia, the cancer stigma is quite widespread. At best, it is expressed in pity, at worst — in fear and alienation, which puts an even heavier burden on the patient, who not only faces experiences associated with treatment and the disease itself, but also feels guilty and ashamed. The study considered certain aspects of this stigma: the concealment of the diagnosis, the attitude to body changes, the confrontation with the patient’s new identification, the degree of stigma control by an individual. Additionally, the stigmatization of the need for psychological care which is necessary for cancer patients, as well as their relatives, leads to additional emotional distress. In order to effectively carry out informational and educational work, one needs to understand stigmatizing attitudes in general public and social media.

OBJECTIVE: The goal was to analyze the stigmatizing and negative cancer-related attitudes in the public consciousness and social media in Russia, as well as to understand the related stigma of the need for mental care.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: An all-Russian survey on the stigmatization of cancer and psychological care was conducted on a sample of cancer patients (n=73), close relatives of cancer patients (n=426), and respondents who have no experience with cancer (n=513). Additionally, we carried out a qualitative and quantitative analysis of users’ messages in social media using keywords, which potentially reflect the cancer-related experience of the author or their relatives (a random subsample of 400 messages from an initial sample of about 150 thousand messages).

RESULTS: The article addresses the issue of stigmatizing cancer in modern Russian society from the concept of I. Goffman. A fairly widespread prevalence of negative and stigmatizing attitudes towards oncological diseases and professional psychological assistance in modern Russian society and in the media were revealed. We found differences among the subsamples in a number of stigmatizing attitudes, as well as the relationship of adherence to them with the age and gender of the respondents. Analysis of social media revealed their contribution to the cancer context as suffering pain, treatment, and financial burden.

CONCLUSION: The shown trends, along with gender and age differences, require differentiated information and educational work with each of the population groups.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the quality of life (QoL) of Russians, including patients of the orthopedic department of the Rostov-on-Don City Dental Polyclinic, who have installed fixed prosthesis (FP). The organization of online health school (HS) classes for them meant improving the situation by reorienting passive health saving towards active self-preserving behavior basing modern managerial medical and social technologies. Appropriate didactic material was developed and implemented in practice. Quantitative changes in QoL were recorded using the author’s indicator system. The positive perception of online classes by patients has become an introduction to the lifelong system of health saving, which is based not only on improving the general or the health culture, but also on the privatization of health and all its components as material socially significant objects (SSO).

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this prospective medical and social cohort study was to confirm the positive dynamics of the QoL of prosthodontist’ patients after on-line classes at the HS using a process-approach-based quality of life scale (PABQoLS).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 24 patients who installed the FP attended from 6 to 9 lessons from the full course of the HS, which included 10 didactic units. Sociological control of QoL was carried out before the beginning of the work of the HS and after the end of the classes. The dynamics of the patients’ QoL, expressed through the afferentation gradient (GA), was correlated with the frequency of visits to the HS and reflected graphically using the construction of linear trends.

RESULTS: The intensity of information flows from SSO within the cohort decreased by 56.1% (p <0.01), the positive balance of acquisitions increased by 3.5 times (t=0.9) after HS 3 months’ work. The highest significance (t=6.3) corresponded to a decrease in the flow of information about all losses by 64.6%. The correlation between the visits number (VN) and total AG (“acquisitions” – “losses”) was 0.494 (p <0.05). The ratio of linear trends in the change in the pragmatic and affiliative components of the balance between acquisitions and losses was 10 to 1 in favor of the pragmatic component as the VN of the HS increased.

CONCLUSION: The results of the medico-social study showed the potential of the PABQoLS as an objective and reliable tool for assessing the success of the HS classes in the direction of medicalization of prosthodontist’ patients.

On a global scale, a radical transformation of the healthcare sector is taking place right before our eyes. Health care systems in many countries are changing at an incredible pace under the pressure of innovative digital platforms that have gained popularity under the names of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). AI systems, powered by massive amounts of data collected from everywhere, are able to guarantee optimal decision making for key players in the healthcare industry, from the pharmaceutical industry to the smallest healthcare providers. This article presents the results of the analysis of achievements and prospects for the use of innovative digital technologies and platforms in modern health care. According to international experts in medicine, it is possible to automate 36% of functions, primarily at the levels of data collection and analysis, and the use of AI technologies can significantly increase the gross profit of firms and organizations in relation to medical activities. There is no doubt about this since information has already become the main driver of management across all sectors of the global economy in general and in the health care sector in particular. The main motivations for the penetration of AI into health care are the escalating costs and the urgent need to limit them, the problem of poor-quality diagnostics (up to 30% of ongoing studies turn out to be unreliable or are misinterpreted) and the desire for standardization and automation of routine functions up to the creation of self-managed diagnostic models. However, the biggest challenge for AI in healthcare is not whether these technologies will be useful enough, but how to ensure that they are quickly and efficiently implemented in everyday clinical practice.

The main goal of the article is to identify how the attitude toward their health among Russians has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article systematizes the results of research analysis devoted to the study of this topic and shows that the pandemic has elevated the issue of health to the top of those issues that have been worrying Russians for the past two years and that more than half of the Russian population has become more attentive to the state of their body, particularly the epidemic’s severity among older people. However, the pandemic in Russia shifted the focus from the widespread care of the population about itself to observing hygienic measures and social distance, and the level of people’s frivolous attitude to their well-being with selfishness in relation to other people. The article also considers the negative consequences of COVID-19 (increased use of alcohol, a change in the diet, constant wearing of masks, etc.) on the health of Russians.

BACKGROUND: The development of the pharmaceutical industry at the present stage determines the high level of need for specialists with specialized education who have additional knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for the implementation of both research and organizational tasks (first of all, registration of medicines) and knowledge in the field of the regulatory field of the industry. At the same time, one of the most pressing problems of pharmaceutical companies is a personnel shortage, the solution of which requires strengthening cooperation between specialized universities and industry enterprises.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to study the trajectories of professional formation and adaptation of specialists of pharmaceutical industry organizations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The article presents the results of a study carried out by a questionnaire survey (author’s questionnaire) conducted among employees of eight pharmaceutical and biotechnological companies and enterprises in Moscow (n=211), which allowed us to determine the features of the formation of personnel and professional development of specialists in the modern pharmaceutical industry.

RESULTS: Currently, the pharmaceutical industry is experiencing a shortage of personnel with basic pharmaceutical education, which forces enterprises to hire employees with basic chemical, biotechnological or medical education, as well as representatives of related professions who acquire special pharmaceutical knowledge already in the course of their work. In turn, graduates of pharmaceutical faculties are reluctant to join pharmaceutical companies and organizations, because after graduation they do not have the practical skills and competencies necessary to work in them. In the current situation, various forms of professional development, obtaining additional professional, second and higher education are of particular importance, which in most cases is encouraged by employers interested in obtaining qualified personnel.

CONCLUSION: The dynamics of the development of domestic pharmacy in the near future is expected to determine the transformation of ideas (social portrait) about a specialist in the pharmaceutical industry, which, among other things, will contribute to strengthening the prestige of the profession. At the same time, the processes of digital and technological development of the industry necessitate the continuous updating of educational programs of universities for the training of specialists with pharmaceutical education that meets the challenges of modernity.