Activities

Seminar "Health and the idea of equality"

The purpose of the seminar is an in-depth analysis of issues related to equality, diversity and discrimination in the area of the right to health, the right to health protection and the right to access to health care. In this edition, special attention will be devoted to the issue of equal access to health care: philosophical analysis of the concept of accessibility and ethical issues related to it; legal guarantees of equal access and barriers in this area, especially those experienced by groups particularly vulnerable to exclusion and discrimination; social movements for health equality, in particular access to health care.

The seminar is providing interdisciplinary perspective and will consist of three thematic blocks: 1) philosophical (the concept of equal access to health care in the context of the concepts of justice and equality, related ethical issues); 2) legal and political sciences (European and national legal regulations on equal access to health care); 3) the sociological and anthropological (the use of qualitative methods for research on barriers in access to healthcare experienced by various social groups: women, migrants, persons with disabilities, representatives of sexual, religious, ethnic and cultural minorities; analysis of selected social movements for health and equitable access to health care).

The seminar is related to the project Healthcare as a Public Space. Social Integration and Social Diversity in the Context of Access to Healthcare in Europe (National Science Center: HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) - Public Spaces: Culture and Integration in Europe; Research funding program scientific and innovation of the European Union „Horizon 2020”).

Website of the seminar

March 23rd 2020 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Public lecture at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Medicine, Institute for History of Medicine

MD Ines Gumilar (Specialist in Family Medicine, Gornja Radgona Public Health Center): ‚Pro Bono' Clinics in Slovenia

The term “pro bono publico” (abbreviated “pro bono”) derives from Latin and means good to the people. It is a professional, voluntary unpaid work in different fields providing specific services to those people who cannot afford it. In 2020 Slovenia has 7 pro bono clinics for people with no health insurance, mostly from marginalized and vulnerable groups such as migrants, homeless people, the elderly, illicit drug users, the unemployed, people with mental health problems, the Roma, the self-employed, people with precarious, employment and people with various forms of disability. The lecturer presented the history and characteristics of the pro bono clinics and the collaboration with general practitioners.

March 4th and 5th 2020 Warsaw, Poland

International Conference at the University of Warsaw, Faculty of History, Column Hall

Legal regulations on diversity in healthcare in European countries: challenges for national legislation

Healthcare, understood as a medical space, is an excellent example of a public space that models the processes of social integration and social equity. In a general sense, healthcare can connect diverse groups of a society under the common idea of health and illness. However, depending on its organization, it can also influence societal segregation of minority groups. Although the issues of minorities’ equality are central to European Institutions, European guidelines are mostly still not observed in the national legal regulations and healthcare practice.

The Conference intends to examine the implementation of norms and guidelines of the European Institutions concerning diversity and ethical, cultural, and social aspects of integration and exclusion within the healthcare sector in national legal frameworks of Germany, Croatia, Slovenia and Poland.

The Conference is held in the scope of the project HERA: Public Spaces. Culture and Integration in Europe (2019-2022) – „Healthcare as a Public Space: Social Integration and Social Diversity in the Context of Access to Healthcare in Europe.” This project has received funding frm the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Website of the Conference

November 11th 2019 Ulm, Germany

Workshop at the Institute of the History, Philosophy and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University:

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and mobile device applications in healthcare – chances for the access to healthcare in a diverse society

The developments in the sector of e-health offer substantial opportunities for healthcare, such as securing and improving the medical and nursing provision. Yet, Artificial Intelligence in healthcare is not a vision for the future, it is already used in everyday practice. The aim of the workshop was to point out in which way Artificial Intelligence and mobile device applications are used in healthcare practice, which projects are planed and which opportunities this might provide for access to healthcare in diverse society. Experts from different fields like psychotherapy, information technology and geriatrics highlighted applications and possibilities but also raised ethical questions.

September 22nd 2019 Warsaw, Poland

Public lecture at the University of Warsaw, Institute of Philosophy

Prof. Magdalena Środa, PhD (University of Warsaw): Health – accessible for everyone?

The right to health protection is a human right. The Constitution of the Republic of Poland guarantees all citizens "equal access to health care services, financed from public funds, shall be ensured by public authorities to citizens, irrespective of their material situation”. Equity in this respect is protected by EU regulations. However, in practice, women, representatives of sexual, religious and cultural minorities, and migrants still face unequal treatment and discrimination in their contacts with healthcare institutions. During the public lecture, Prof. Magdalena Środa, PhD, from University of Warsaw talked about forms of discrimination in access to healthcare. The lecture was followed by a discussion panel with the participation of Prof. Paweł Łuków, Katarzyna Bielińska, PhD, and Anna Chowaniec, MA. The lecture was included in the set of events of Festival of Science.

September 5th and 6th 2019 Rijeka, Croatia

International Conference at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Social Sciences and Medical Humanities:

Healthcare as a Public Space: Social Integration and Social Diversity in the Context of Access to Healthcare in Europe

Poster Public Lecture Rijeka

September 3rd 2019 Rijeka, Croatia

Public lecture at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine

Prof. Dr. (TR) Dr. phil. et med habil. İlhan İlkiliç (Chair Dep. of History of Medicine and Ethics, Istanbul University Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul / Capa, Turkey):

Ethical Issues of Interculturality in Healthcare

In multicultural societies, encounters between doctors and patients from different cultural backgrounds are an everyday occurrence. Thus, depending on the cultural understanding there may be divergent assessments of the disease value of a given condition,the degree of suffering, and therapeutic goal. Intercultural doctor-patient conflicts arising out of different value systems to which the actors subscribe cover a broad spectrum involving various problems and complexities, depending on the specific issues at stake. The lecture expounded communication barriers, cultural practices and moral diversity in intercultural setting with regard to their ethical implications and reflected on intercultural physician-patient relationship and analyse some ethical concepts, which might help to legitimate our medical ethical decisions in a value pluralistic society.