Search

Background: In recent years, the integration of large language models (LLMs) into healthcare has emerged as a revolutionary approach to enhancing doctor–patient communication, particularly in the management of diseases such as prostate cancer. Methods: Our paper evaluated the effectiveness of three prominent LLMs—ChatGPT (3.5), Gemini (Pro), and Co-Pilot (the free version)—against the official Romanian Patient's Guide on prostate cancer. Employing a randomized and blinded method, our study engaged eight medical professionals to assess the responses of these models based on accuracy, timeliness, comprehensiveness, and user-friendliness. Results: The primary objective was to explore whether LLMs, when operating in Romanian, offer comparable or superior performance to the Patient's Guide, considering their potential to personalize communication and enhance the informational accessibility for patients. Results indicated that LLMs, particularly ChatGPT, generally provided more accurate and user-friendly information compared to the Guide. Conclusions: The findings suggest a significant potential for LLMs to enhance healthcare communication by providing accurate and accessible information. However, variability in performance across different models underscores the need for tailored implementation strategies. We highlight the importance of integrating LLMs with a nuanced understanding of their capabilities and limitations to optimize their use in clinical settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Communication is a critical component in the process of providing quality healthcare services and products. The role of public relations (PR), as a strategic, proactive, and responsible type of communication, is to establish and maintain a positive reputation and relationships with the public, based on trust and mutual understanding. Given the complex approach and process of this activity, when properly applied, PR can bring benefits to all stakeholders in the healthcare sector, contributing positively to its overall realities and outcomes. This paper presents the results of an exploratory pilot study aimed at identifying the coordinates of PR in the Romanian health sector by investigating perceptions on health public relations (HPR), its potential, challenges and opportunities, and stakeholders in healthcare. It is based on qualitative research, using interviews with a mixed group of professionals from the public and private sectors (doctors, medical service coordinators, medical professors, managers, and owners of entities that provide health services and products, and strategic communication professionals working for companies in healthcare). The results are discussed alongside relevant findings provided by previously published studies. In the final part of the article, the author proposes a PR model for entities in the medical area. It emphasizes that HPR should not only be used as a tactical tool or alternative to marketing efforts, nor only intended to manage an undesirable image or deliver damage control after an inconvenient situation or crisis. Instead, HPR services are at their true potential when a strategic approach is applied proactively, based on complex research and planning, designed to engage stakeholders and motivate them towards collaborative communication and sustained effort, based on partnership, for efficient and effective results in the health sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media can be used to raise awareness about health issues, especially concerning the importance of periodical screening. The present study aims to identify the role of social media awareness campaigns in the early detection of breast cancer, with a focus on Romania, a country with a high female mortality due to this disease. The research is performed using a survey, based on an online questionnaire, which was self-administered by the respondents included in two samples selected from a Facebook community of Romanian women. Sample A was composed of 1945 women who were not exposed to periodic campaigns regarding the importance of screening for the prevention and early detection of this type of disease, and Sample B was composed of 289 women who were exposed to such annual campaigns within the last 5 years. The results outline several differences among respondents from the two samples regarding their awareness of prevention necessity, as well as the frequency and chosen methods for breast cancer screening. The findings hold important implications for public authorities, which must intensify their efforts in raising women's awareness regarding the importance of screening for the early detection and prevention of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humor, as part of our lives, is also extremely important in different professional settings. Speech and language therapy (SLT) sector is addressing both children and adults with specific language disorders or with non-specific language disorders, secondary to different syndromes or disabilities. In the SLT area, humor is a way through which therapy sessions can be easily introduced, it being an intrinsic modality of approaching children and adults. This article illustrates the data collected in the first Romanian study regarding humor use in the SLT sector, focusing on the way humor is perceived by specialists, but at the same time on the participants’ needs regarding the enriching of the SLT field with more materials both digitally born and/or printed. This study presents extended descriptive data that help us consider humor as a vital element during speech therapy sessions, independently of the professionals’ age, gender, experience and to create a collection of data regarding humor use in speech therapy for future therapeutic effective interventions. Thus, the most relevant collected data are as follows: of the 210 participants in this research just 12 (5.7%) responded that they do not use humor in their professional sector; 94.3% use humor in language disorder therapy activities; 39% use humor in every therapeutic session; more than 68% of participants use verbal humor during their sessions; 199 (94.8%) say that therapeutic materials with humorous content are mainly presented in traditional format (physical material resources); 129 responded they use humor (61.4%) in virtual format too - (digital resources); 68 % of the participants strongly agree/agree that a humor assessment tool is necessary for the effective use of humor in language disorder therapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of air quality inside residential buildings and constructions on the health of residents and workers has been studied very little in recent years. In the school environment, students are constantly exposed to mixtures of airborne substances from a wide variety of sources both in classrooms and in the school environment. Exposure to such factors of students influences, in the long term, physiological development, dynamics, quality of life, life expectancy, without being aware of the dangers in the air and being able to make decisions on reducing exposure to the risk factor. In the short term, poor air quality in classrooms leads to a decrease in attention and concentration, both for the student and the teaching staff. The research is motivated by the following: a) The lack of data and studies carried out in Romania, and their relationship with the change in student behavior during the school program; b) Laboratories and practice workshops in high schools are totally different from classrooms from the point of view of air quality and internal factors that contribute to pollution due to the equipment and specific, different activities carried out in these spaces. The novelty of this study is brought by the fact that, at the same time as the monitoring and data acquisition of air quality (inside and outside), there will be a monitoring and data acquisition of real-time biometric measurements of the subjects directly exposed to this environment, via a bracelet attached to the subject's arm. This bracelet is designed to perform biometric measurements without disturbing the subjects in the activities in which they are involved. These measurements are made with 9 different sensors for: pulse, blood oxygen (SPO2), air flow (respiration), body temperature, electrocardiogram (ECG), galvanic skin response (GSR - sweat), blood pressure (sphygmomanometer), patient position/movement, and muscle sensor/electromyography (EMG). The data thus obtained will be centralized on a PC and analyzed later. At the end, an ecological equipment capable of ensuring the ventilation of the space and a constant air quality, by monitoring the values of the compounds in the air, will be created experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution poses one of the greatest dangers to public well-being. This article outlines a study conducted in the Central Romania Region regarding the health risks associated with particulate matter (PM) of two sizes, viz., PM10 and PM2.5. The methodology used consists of the following: (i) an analysis of the effects of PM pollutants, (ii) an analysis of total mortality and cardiovascular-related mortality, and (iii) a general health risk assessment. The Central Region of Romania is situated in the Carpathian Mountains' inner arch (consisting of six counties). The total population of the region under investigation is about 2.6 million inhabitants. Health risk assessment is calculated based on the relative risk (RR) formula. During the study period, our simulations show that reducing these pollutants' concentrations below the new WHO guidelines (2021) will prevent over 172 total fatalities in Brasov alone, as an example. Furthermore, the potential benefit of reducing annual PM2.5 levels on total cardiovascular mortality is around 188 persons in Brasov. Although health benefits may also depend upon other physiological parameters, all general health indicators point towards a significant improvement in overall health by a general reduction in particulate matter, as is shown by the toxicity assessment of the particulate matter in the region of interest. The modality can be applied to other locations for similar studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]