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Background. Frailty is a state of increased vulnerability to various health stressors but little information is summarized about frailty in patients with specific chronic respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and asthma. Objective. We aimed to describe the burden of frailty on patients with chronic respiratory disorders and to discuss the need for multidisciplinary care services. Methods. PubMed and Cochrane Central databases were systematically reviewed for studies reporting outcomes associated with frailty in COPD, IPF, and asthma. Electronic databases were searched for relevant articles published in English from 2010 up to July 2020. Appraisal was carried out based on the Hierarchy of Evidence Rating System and the GRADE guidelines. Results. A total of 31 articles met all inclusion criteria with 24 of them at level IV, 1 at level V, and 6 at level VI. Frailty is likely to negatively affect quality of life and to increase the risk of mortality, especially in elderly with COPD, IPF and asthma. Each disease has a particular effect on the balance between health status, respiratory impairment and frailty. A greater understanding of frailty phenotype across different ages, as well as in a range of long-term conditions, is of great necessity in both clinical and research settings. Limited conformity was observed between different methodologies and nature of chronic diseases studied, leading to a further difficulty to extract homogeneous information. Conclusion. Literature shows that frailty is prevalent in COPD, IPF, and asthma, after adjusting for shared risk factors. Our findings suggest that frailty should be approached as an entity per se’, in order to assess real mortality risk, alongside respiratory disease severity and the presence of comorbidities. Health care professionals need knowledge, skills and multidisciplinary collaboration to buffer the impact of frailty on everyday practice.

The refugee problem, which Greece faces since 2015, comprise one of the key challenges for policymakers in terms both of immediate measures to protect refugees in host centers and of the prospects for their smooth integration into the socio-economic system. The research project entitled “Detection and classification of perspectives for the inclusion of refugees in the Greek production system. Case study in Crete and Mytilene”, in which this paper is based, focuses on these perspectives. Therefore, within the framework of the triangular research process which was followed, quantitative research through a structured questionnaire was conducted to refugees in the selected area of ​​Mytilene[1], which has received huge refugee inflows since 2015 and still has a significant refugee population in the host centers. In a second phase, the dimensions, prospects, shortcomings and barriers on the integration of refugees into the labor market were explored through semi-structured interviews in Crete[2] and Mytilene with entrepreneurs and social partners’ representatives (75 interviews in each island). The selection of these two geographical areas was carried out in order to investigate the different dimensions and potential opportunities for integration, as long as Mytilene has received extensive refugee inflows while Crete has not received refugee flows and is an appropriate field of entrepreneurship and potential integration of refugees in the production process. Furthermore, 40 narrative interviews were conducted in Crete with “old” integrated refugees and immigrants in order to investigate the problems and challenges they faced during their integration process and the conditions for current refugees in terms of integration. This research is expected to provide useful material for constructing intervention and incentive directions, benefiting refugees’ social integration and the evolvement of their social and human capital.

During the last years the use of OTCs (Over The Counter medicines) has been raised at European and national level. The negative effects of their inappropriate use have an impact on both the population’s health and the economy of an area (through pharmaceutical spending). This scientific article presents the main findings of a European study which was conducted in order to evaluate the extent of irrational prescription and inappropriate use of OTCs in selected European countries (OTC SOCIOMED, ​​http: // www.otcsociomed.uoc.gr). It aims to contribute to good practices on raising the awareness among the relevant public, including health care professionals and academics, while highlighting the importance of lifelong learning (doctors, patients, pharmacists) to policy makers, local authorities and society in general., Academia, No 14 (2019)

The refugee problem, which Greece faces since 2015, comprise one of the key challenges for policymakers in terms both of immediate measures to protect refugees in host centers and of the prospects for their smooth integration into the socio-economic system. The research project entitled "Detection and classification of perspectives for the inclusion of refugees in the Greek production system. Case study in Crete and Mytilene", in which this paper is based, focuses on these perspectives. Therefore, within the framework of the triangular research process which was followed, quantitative research through a structured questionnaire was conducted to refugees in the selected area of ​​Mytilene, which has received huge refugee inflows since 2015 and still has a significant refugee population in the host centers. In a second phase, the dimensions, prospects, shortcomings and barriers on the integration of refugees into the labor market were explored through semi-structured interviews in Crete and Mytilene with entrepreneurs and social partners’ representatives (75 interviews in each island). The selection of these two geographical areas was carried out in order to investigate the different dimensions and potential opportunities for integration, as long as Mytilene has received extensive refugee inflows while Crete has not received refugee flows and is an appropriate field of entrepreneurship and potential integration of refugees in the production process. Furthermore, 40 narrative interviews were conducted in Crete with “old” integrated refugees and immigrants in order to investigate the problems and challenges they faced during their integration process and the conditions for current refugees in terms of integration. This research is expected to provide useful material for constructing intervention and incentive directions, benefiting refugees’ social integration and the evolvement of their social and human capital.

The outcome of the recent referendum in the UK was straightforwardly affected by the policies followed by the EU. The main factors in which eurosceptics-populists had used in order to collect votes were both the immigration crisis (and the consequent EU policies) and the European political reactions to the economic crisis which increases EU powers, under the German supervision, and decreases national sovereignty. Although these two factors may seem different, they are directly linked as long as they comprise an outcome of the social and democratic deficit of the EU which increased concerns about the future effects in the UK and offered the opportunity for the cultivation of populist ideas. This article aims at indicating the main parameters of the European social and democratic deficit which affected Britons’ decision in the referendum while drawing the attention on the restructure of the European policy directions.

In January 2015 the radical left SYRIZA has won the Greek national elections and formed a coalition government with Independent Greeks (ANEL), a right-wing populist party. After a seven-month negotiation with Greece’s creditors and the agreement for the implementation of a third memorandum of fiscal adjustment, SYRIZA announced the conduction of a second round of national elections in September 2015. After a second electoral victory, SYRIZA formed again a coalition government with ANEL. The main characteristic of SYRIZA’s pre-electoral campaign was that it has primarily focused on the commitment for austerity measures termination and on the implementation of tax alleviation. Even during the second electoral campaign in September 2015, after the agreement for the implementation of the third memorandum of fiscal adjustment, SYRIZA was promising that its implementation will be socially endued in order to reduce negative social consequences, such as those created by the previous memoranda. Practically though, after the first months of the new memorandum implementation, it is obvious that the government has introduced an unprecedented tax policy. Interestingly, this policy is not different from a traditional left logic of tax enforcement but actually leads to the implementation of horizontal austerity policies which firstly affect the socially vulnerable groups. From this point of view, while SYRIZA emphatically declare that it aims at resolving the crisis, its policies seem to deepen the depression. For instance, its inability to find alternative options to finance the social security system, leads to the implementation of restrictive policies which dismantle the welfare state. This paper aims at analyzing the policies of the first left government in Greece by focusing on the tentative social consequences of the third memorandum and at the same time, studying some of the basic factors for its electoral victory, such as populism.

Sustainable development concerns the future perspective of natural systems in combination with the social and policy challenges faced by humanity. The three pillars of sustainable development (socio-cultural, economic, environmental) are closely interconnected. This paper examines the role of the social pillar of sustainable development. In particular, social rights aim at the establishment of degrees of social equity and security. Viewed as a component of human rights arising from the social contract, social rights are closely linked to notions of governance associated with social responsibility and social obligations. Their major development took place in the period after the Second World War. In this paper we will focus on employment, education and health care. While the pillars of sustainable development are interconnected, welfare policies are also obviously dependent on economic and cultural factors. We argue that social rights enhance social capital under certain conditions. More generally, we argue that sustainable development and social responsibility are mutually reinforcing. The purpose of this paper is, firstly, to discuss the role of social rights in the promotion of sustainable development and, secondly, to examine the policy paths and governance modes that enhance both social sustainability and sustainable development.

Financial crisis has connected Europe with an obvious common pattern which consists the rapidly rise of protest parties that challenge the established political systems. The basic and new feature of these schemes is the intense war rhetoric against the European Union and the vehement rejection of the selected modes of euro rescue. In this sense, populism appears as a new specter haunting European democracies, as active risk, causing serious concerns. Unfortunately, the growing concern does not coincide with policies aiming at finding viable solutions, as the center-right parties and governments believe that the only solution to the crisis is to adopt austerity measures and Social Democrats have not yet found effective alternatives.

Background: Irrational prescribing of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines in general practice is common in Southern Europe. Recent findings from a research project funded by the European Commission (FP7), the “OTC SOCIOMED”, conducted in seven European countries, indicate that physicians in countries in the Mediterranean Europe region prescribe medicines to a higher degree in comparison to physicians in other participating European countries. In light of these findings, a feasibility study has been designed to explore the acceptance of a pilot educational intervention targeting physicians in general practice in various settings in the Mediterranean Europe region. Methods: This feasibility study utilized an educational intervention was designed using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). It took place in geographically-defined primary care areas in Cyprus, France, Greece, Malta, and Turkey. General Practitioners (GPs) were recruited in each country and randomly assigned into two study groups in each of the participating countries. The intervention included a one-day intensive training programme, a poster presentation, and regular visits of trained professionals to the workplaces of participants. Reminder messages and email messages were, also, sent to participants over a 4-week period. A pre- and post-test evaluation study design with quantitative and qualitative data was employed. The primary outcome of this feasibility pilot intervention was to reduce GPs’ intention to provide medicines following the educational intervention, and its secondary outcomes included a reduction of prescribed medicines following the intervention, as well as an assessment of its practicality and acceptance by the participating GPs. Results: Median intention scores in the intervention groups were reduced, following the educational intervention, in comparison to the control group. Descriptive analysis of related questions indicated a high overall acceptance and perceived practicality of the intervention programme by GPs, with median scores above 5 on a 7-point Likert scale. Conclusions: Evidence from this intervention will estimate the parameters required to design a larger study aimed at assessing the effectiveness of such educational interventions. In addition, it could also help inform health policy makers and decision makers regarding the management of behavioural changes in the prescribing patterns of physicians in Mediterranean Europe, particularly in Southern European countries.

Financial crisis has connected Europe with an obvious common pattern which consists the rapidly rise of protest parties that challenge the established political systems. The basic and new feature of these schemes is the intense war rhetoric against the European Union and the vehement rejection of the selected modes of euro rescue. In this sense, populism appears as a new specter haunting European democracies, as active risk, causing serious concerns. Unfortunately, the growing concern does not coincide with policies aiming at finding viable solutions, as the center-right parties and governments believe that the only solution to the crisis is to adopt austerity measures and Social Democrats have not yet found effective alternatives.