Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Psychosocial support systems'

Thesis (MPhil (Industrial Psychology))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006.
This research paper investigates the need for emotional and psychosocial support for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS in the workplace. Most employees infected and affected by HIV and AIDS, as well as their families, often need assistance to cope with stigma, rejection, and discrimination, as well as having to adjust to the diagnosis, to confront the fear of losing independence, and to prepare themselves for the changes that might happen to their lives. Hence, through counseling and support, they can have more knowledge about HIV and AIDS and reduced fears and misconceptions about living with HIV and AIDS. Some research organizations, such as the Perinatal HIV Research Unit, do provide emotional and psychosocial support, and advice for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS. An attitude survey was conducted with about 400 employees at the Unilever Company in Boksburg, Johannesburg, in September and October 2005 to determine whether emotional and psychosocial support could play a role in motivating people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS to live positively with the virus, in eliminating related stigma and fears. Employees from this organization were chosen as the population for this survey as a prevalence study and VCT was carried out with them in August and September 2005, so they knew and trusted the councilors who were giving results to them and they had established a relationship with them. I booked appointments for follow-up counseling sessions of 45 minutes after VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) and then told them about the support group at their workplace. The findings indicate that there is indeed a need for emotional and psychosocial support for people infected and affected by HIV and AIDS in the workplace. Among other findings, respondents, especially those infected, reported that they had learned that being HIV positive is not the end of the world but the beginning as long as you look after yourself you can live a normal and productive life for many years, as long as you take extra care of yourself. Most of the affected respondents reported that they had never done an HIV test before due to their own fear of the prognosis. Having acquired more facts about HIV and AIDS, those that had not been tested stated that they now planned to do so. Both groups – those who tested negative and those who tested positive – reported that they also learned about the importance of disclosing your one’s status as a means of getting support.

There is growing interest in applying information and communication technology (ICT) in healthcare. The attention to ICT stems from several factors: costs of healthcare, high prevalence of somatic diseases, longer life expectancy and technological advancements. The quest to meet the growing healthcare needs has led authorities to allocate resources to develop technological solutions. Although this research investment is helpful for the information technology sector, these projects face challenges in working with multidisciplinary teams, recruiting participants and moving research to practice. This dissertation investigates the potential of ICT use in psychosocial support communication designed for people with emotional distress associated with a somatic disease (PEDASDs). The research aims to deliver design principles (DPs) for these ICTs, for three stakeholder groups: nurses, therapists and PEDASDs. The DPs focus on communication between these stakeholder groups and not on the overall ICT design. An interpretative approach was adopted to investigate the stakeholders’ unique ICT requirements. This method allows insights into the stakeholder’s world. Three studies, using semi-structured interviews, at oncology facilities in two healthcare system models (Trinidad & Tobago and Sweden), provide the empirical data. The stakeholders revealed not only their communication support needs but also other issues including the practical distresses of living with a chronic disease, limited support, lack of information, unwillingness to associate with other PEDASDs, professionalism between healthcare providers and disconnected healthcare services. Common ground, bridges and weak ties provide the theoretical framework to explore the findings. Eight DPs emerged from the studies: the healthcare system model, need to educate the stakeholders, ICT customisation, support of stakeholders’ information needs, allow access to external resources, support multidisciplinary team communication, support for self-care and support for significant others. The findings could potentially serve as a guide for ICT projects that develop artefacts for psychosocial support and provide a theoretically grounded understanding of stakeholder communication and relationships. The potential for future work includes investigating the issues of legislation and ethics, studying the needs of significant others, exploring the potential for ICTs in other healthcare system models (particularly the out-of-pocket health system) and examining the impact of social media on psychosocial support.
Det finns ett växande intresse att använda informations- och kommunikationsteknologi (IKT) inom hälso- och sjukvården. Intresset för IKT påverkas av flera faktorer: sjukvårdens kostnader, prevalensen av somatiska sjukdomar, ökad medellivslängd och teknologiska framsteg. Utmaningen att hantera de växande sjukvårdsbehoven har lett till att statliga myndigheter har allokerat resurser för att utveckla teknologiska lösningar. Trots att forskningsinvesteringarna gynnar informationsteknologisektorn i stort möter de konkreta forskningsprojekten utmaningar såsom arbete inom tvärvetenskapliga grupper, rekrytering av deltagare till studier samt implementering. Denna avhandling undersöker möjligheten att använda IKT för kommunikation av psykosocialt stöd eller vård (care). Detta stöd är utformat för personer med emotionella problem relaterade till en somatisk sjukdom (PEDASD). Forskningen syftar till att leverera designprinciper (DP) för tre intressegrupper som använder IKT: sjuksköterskor, terapeuter och PEDASD. Designprinciperna fokuserar på kommunikation mellan de tre intressegrupperna och inte på den övergripande IKT-designen. Ett tolkande tillvägagångssätt har använts för att undersöka intressegruppernas unika IKT-krav och önskemål. Denna metod gör det möjligt att studera intressegruppernas upplevelser. Tre undersökningar, som baseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer, har genomförts vid avdelningar för onkologisk vård inom två sjukvårdssystemmodeller i Trinidad & Tobago respektive Sverige. Studiens empiriska data utgörs av intervjuerna. Data har sedan analyserats utifrån det teoretiska ramverket: Common ground, bridges och weak ties. I sina svar nämnde intressegrupperna inte enbart deras behov av kommunikationsstöd, utan också annat som till exempel praktiska problem att leva med en kronisk sjukdom, begränsat stöd, brist på information, ovillighet att förknippas med andra PEDASD, de professionella relationerna mellan sjukvårdens olika yrkesgrupper samt avsaknaden av koordination inom sjukvården. Analysen resulterade i åtta designprinciper: sjukvårdssystemmodellen, behovet av att utbilda intressegrupperna, IKT-anpassning, stöd för intressegruppernas informationsbehov, tillgång till externa resurser, stöd för kommunikation inom tvärvetenskapliga forskargrupper, stöd för självhjälp och stöd till närstående. Resultaten har potential att fungera som en guide för IKT-forskningsprojekt som utvecklar artefakter för psykosocialt stöd och som presenterar en teoretiskt grundad förståelse av intressegruppers kommunikation och relationer. Resultaten pekar också på behovet av framtida forskning om lagstiftning och etik, nära anhörigas behov, potentialen för IKT inom andra sjukvårdssystemmodeller (i synnerhet system där patienter betalar mer själva) samt sociala mediers inverkan på psykosocialt stöd.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate how psychosocial support for families where a parent suffers from a life threatening illness can be constructed. The intent was also to explore how the child's perspective is protected and what barriers and opportunities there are for family oriented support. The study has a qualitative approach and includes interviews with four social workers. The interviews were analyzed with a systems theory and attachment theory. The conclusions are that the whole family suffers psychological and social pressures when a parent is sick. The psychosocial support is given individually and to the family as a unit to help them deal with their changed life situation and facilitate subsequent grieving. An important aspect of the support is psycho education to parents and children, which aims to increase the understanding of the situation, their individual and each others' reactions. The social workers stress that it’s important to establish contacts in the family’s private network and support agencies in the community.

It falls under the medical mission to offer support to relatives and it includes a responsibility to inform and support the child based on individual circumstances. However, there seems to exist a variation and uncertainty about its nature and extent. Therefore professionals need to be aware of the importance of highlighting the child’s needs and support families.

Närstående till cancersjuka hamnar ofta i skuggan. Den närstående, omgivningen och sjukvården är samtliga fokuserade på att hjälpa den cancersjuke och det är så svårt att se att det finns fler som påverkas av cancersjukdomen, nämligen de som står den cancersjuke nära. Denna kvalitativa fenomenologiska studie har som syfte att beskriva närståendes upplevelse av att leva nära någon som har en cancerdiagnos. För att få en djupare förståelse för fenomenet och dess essens använder denna studie systemteori, psykosocialt stöd samt copingteori som teoretiska utgångspunkter. Dessa bidrar till en förståelse för det socialpsykologiska perspektivet gällande vem som påverkas av en cancersjukdom, hur påverkan ter sig samt hur den hanteras. Tio informanter som samtliga lever/har levt nära någon som har/har haft en cancerdiagnos deltog. Data samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet visade att livet förändras i samband med att någon nära får en cancerdiagnos. Det visade också att det finns en trygghet i att få förståelse från omgivningen, men att närstående även i stor utsträckning vill klara sig själva för att på så sätt kontrollera situationen.
Cancer patients’ loved one’s often end up in the shadow. The loved one, the environment and healthcare are all focused on helping the cancer patient and it is then hard to see that there are more people affected by the cancer, namely the people being close to the patient. The aim of this qualitative phenomenological study is to describe the loved one’s experience of living close to someone who has cancer. To get a deeper understanding of the phenomenon and its essence this study use system theory, psychosocial support and coping theory as theoretical points. These contribute to an understanding of the social psychology perspective to whom is affected by cancer, how they are affected and how they handle it. Ten informants who all live/have lived with someone who has/had a cancer diagnosis attended. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The result showed that life changes when someone close gets a cancer diagnosis. It also showed that there is a security in the environments’ understanding, but that loved one’s also to a large extent would fend for themselves and in that way get control over situation.

Bakgrund: Personal inom hälso- och sjukvården ska “beakta ett barns behov av information, råd och stöd” när ett barns förälder eller annan vuxen i barnets närhet lider av eller drabbas av sjukdom, skada, beroende eller vid dödsfall. Barn i familjer där minst en förälder har ett missbruk eller beroende löper större risk att utsättas för fysiskt och psykiskt våld. Barn som växer upp under sådana förhållanden löper även en ökad risk att själva utveckla beroendeproblematik. Information och stöd kan vara avgörande för deras framtida hälsa. Syfte: Att undersöka vilken kunskap och vilka erfarenheter sjuksköterskor verksamma inom beroendepsykiatrin har av att uppmärksamma om det finns barn i patientens närhet som är i behov av information och stöd, samt vilka hindrande respektive främjande faktorer som finns för att kunna tillgodose detta behov. Metod: Sex sjuksköterskor deltog i individuella intervjuer. Intervjuerna analyserades med manifest innehållsanalys. Resultat: Samtliga respondenter uppgav att de alltid tillfrågar sina patienter om det finns barn i deras närhet. De främjande faktorer som har framkommit är att det hos sjuksköterskorna fanns en vilja till förbättring och utveckling i verksamheten samt att barnen uppmärksammas. De hindrande faktorerna beskrivs vara miljön inom beroendepsykiatrin, sjuksköterskornas utbildningsläge, olika rädslor samt viss tidsbrist. Slutsats: Om en strukturerad handlingsplan för att stödja och informera barnen fanns att tillgå skulle detta tillsammans med det engagemang som redan finns hos sjuksköterskorna kunna leda till ett förbättrat stöd till de barn som lever tillsammans med en vuxen med missbruksproblematik.
Background: Staff within the Swedish health care should “consider a child’s need of information, advice and support when the child’s parent or other adult in the child’s vicinity suffers from illness, injury, addiction or death”. Children in families where one parent suffers from substance addiction or abuse are at greater risk of being exposed to physical and psychological violence. Children who grow up under those circumstances are also at greater risk of developing addiction problems. Information and support may be vital for their future quality of life. Aim: To examine the knowledge and experiences nurses working in the field of addicition psychiatry have regarding inquiring about whether there are children close to their patient who are in need of information, support, and also what impeding and promoting factors they experience in regards to providing that information and support to the child. Methods: Six nurses participated in individual interviews. The interview results was analyzed using a manifest content analysis. Results: All of the nurses said that they always ask their patients if they have children among them. The promoting factors are their will to improve and development of the business and that they pay attention to the children. The impeding factors are described as the environment within the psychiatry, the nurses education, different fears and a lack of time. Conclusions: If a structured plan to support and inform the children were available, together with the commitment the nurses have expressed, could lead to an improved support for children living with an adult with substance abuse problems.

I Sverige föds ungefär 440 barn döda varje år. Intrauterin fosterdöd kan beskrivas som en stilla födsel och definieras som framfödande av barn som saknar livstecken efter 22 fullgångna graviditetsveckor. En förlossning av ett dödfött barn sker på liknande sätt som en förlossning med ett levande barn. Skillnaden är att fosterhjärtljuden inte behöver övervakas eller registreras. Modern som genomgår förlossningen kan då istället få all uppmärksamhet. Att få ett dödfött barn tillhör inte en vanlig livserfarenhet och innebär en chock för föräldrarna. Intrauterin fosterdöd kan orsaka kraftiga psykiska besvär hos modern. En majoritet har planerat månader och ibland år i förväg för hur livet med ett barn kommer att bli och när barnet sedan dör intrauterint rasar hela deras värld. Sorgen efter ett barn som får en stilla födsel beskrivs som långvarig och djup, speciellt för modern som bär barnet i sin kropp.   Syftet med föreliggande litteraturöversikt var att belysa moderns psykiska hälsa efter att hon mist sitt barn intrauterint.   För att på lämpligt sätt besvara föreliggande studies syfte valdes en litteraturöversikt som metod. Databassökningar gjordes via PubMed, CINAHL och PsychINFO. Resultatet av sökningarna medförde att 18 vetenskapliga artiklar inkluderades. Artiklarna var publicerade från år 2008 till och med år 2018 och både artiklar med kvalitativ och kvantitativ ansats inkluderades i studien. Vetenskaplig kvalitetsgranskning och klassificering genomfördes utifrån Sophiahemmet Högskolas utarbetade bedömningsunderlag. Resultatet framtogs genom integrerad analys av innehåll.   I resultatet framkom det att modern kan drabbas av olika psykiska besvär med varierande svårighetsgrad efter att hon mist sitt barn intrauterint. Ångest, depression, oro, tvångstankar, posttraumatiskt stressyndrom och självmordstankar förekommer. Besvären kan finnas kvar lång tid efter dödfödseln. Känslor av tomhet, olust och skuld beskrevs hos ett flertal mödrar samt skillnader i hur samhället betraktade dem på grund av socioekonomisk och kulturell status. Genom att få stöd från sjukvården och barnmorskor kunde symtomen och besvären minska. Att samla minnen, hålla i barnet, utföra ritualer, mindfulness, stödsamtal eller psykoterapi ledde till att besvären kunde minska.   Slutsatsen som framkommit från föreliggande litteraturöversikt är att den psykiska hälsan hos modern kunde påverkas negativt av den kris som en intrauterin fosterdöd innebär. Hur svåra och långvariga besvären blev var beroende av tillgängligheten och kvaliteten på generellt stöd samt vårdinsatser.
In Sweden, approximately 440 children are stillborn every year. Intrauterine fetal death is sometimes described as a still birth and is defined as the birth of a child who has shown no sign of life after 22 completed pregnancy weeks. The birth of a stillborn child is similar to the birth of a living child. The difference is that the fetal heartbeat does not need to be monitored or recorded. Full attention can be directed at the mother giving birth. Giving birth to a stillborn child is not a normal life experience and is a shock for the parents. Intrauterine fetal death can cause the mother severe mental disorders. A majority has planned months and sometimes years in advance for how life with a child will be and when the child then dies their entire world crumbles. Grieving for a child who is stillborn is described as long lasting and deep, especially for the mother who carried the child in her body.   The aim of this literature review was to illuminate the mother's mental health after she has lost her baby intrauterine.      In order to adequately respond to the purpose of the study, a literature review was chosen as a method. Database searches were made through PubMed, CINAHL and PsychINFO. The result of the searches led to the inclusion of 18 scientific articles. The articles were published from year 2008 to 2018 and both qualitative and quantitative articles were included in the study. Scientific quality review and classification was implemented in the foundation of the Sophiahemmet University Hospital. The result was developed through integrated content analysis.   From the result it emerged that the mother could suffer from various mental disorders with varying degrees of difficulties after she has lost her child intrauterine. Anxiety, depression, worrying, obsessive thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts occur. The discomfort can last long after the birth of a stillborn child. Feelings of emptiness, unrest and guilt were shown by a number of mothers as well as differences in how society saw them based on their socio-economic and cultural status. By receiving support from health care staff and midwives, the symptoms and disorders could be reduced. Collecting memories, holding the child, performing rituals, mindfulness, counseling or psychotherapy could also lead to reduced symptoms.   The conclusion from the literature review is that the mental health of the mother was adversely affected by the crisis that an intrauterine fetal death implies. How severe and long-lasting problems became, depended on availability and quality of general support and efforts from the healthcare system.

Introduction : Les premiers mois qui suivent un diagnostic de cancer du sein représentent un temps critique pour les patientes et leur partenaire. Les objectifs de cette étude sont de décrire l’évolution de variables psychosociales et d’examiner les effets individuels et dyadiques de ces variables sur l’ajustement des couples. Méthode : 83 patientes atteintes d’un cancer et 76 couples touchés par cette maladie ont été rencontrés au début, au milieu et à la fin du traitement, puis 1, 3 et 6 mois après la fin du traitement. Ils ont complété des mesures de contrôle émotionnel, de détresse psychologique, de qualité de vie, d’ajustement dyadique, de soutien social et de coping face à la maladie. Résultats: Les résultats montrent que les sujets rapportent des niveaux élevés d’anxiété, avec un court déclin pour les patientes durant le traitement. Le soutien social, l’esprit combatif et les préoccupations diminuent avec le temps.En utilisant l’Actor and Partner Interdependence Model, nos résultats révèlent que la détresse psychologique, le contrôle émotionnel, le soutien social négatif et les stratégies de coping émotionnelles ont des effets acteurs et partenaires négatifs sur l’ajustement des patientes et des conjoints, et que l’ajustement dyadique et le soutien social ont des effets acteurs et partenaires positifs sur ce même ajustement. De plus, la détresse psychologique des patientes, le soutien social négatif et les stratégies de coping émotionnelles jouent un rôle positif et significatif sur l’ajustement des partenaires. Le soutien social a des effets acteurs et partenaires sur le choix des stratégies de coping. Conclusion : Ces résultats montrent l’importance de combiner les approches transactionnelle individuelle et systémique. Les résultats suggèrent également que les couples pourraient bénéficier d’interventions qui augmentent le soutien social et les compétences de communication et qui aident à gérer la détresse psychologique
Introduction: The first months following breast cancer diagnosis is a critical period for patients and their partners. The objectives of the study were to describe the course of psychosocial variables and to examine the individual and dyadic effects of these variables on the adjustment of couples.Method: 83 breast cancer patients and 76 couples dealing with breast cancer were interviewed at the biginning, half way through, at the end of the treatment, and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment completion. They completed measures of emotional control, psychological distress, quality of life, dyadic adjustment, social support and coping.Results: Results showed that subjects endured high levels of anxiety, with a short decline for women during treatment. Social support, fighting spirit and anxious preoccupations decreased over time.Using the Actor and Partner Interdependence Model, results revealed that psychological distress, emotional control, negative social support and emotional coping strategies had similar negative actor and partner effects on respective adjustment, and that dyadic adjustment and social support had similar positive actor and partner effects on patients’ and partners’ adjustment. Patient’s psychological distress, negative social support and emotional coping strategies play significant and positive roles in partner’s adjustment. Social support had actor and partner effects on choices of coping strategies.Conclusion: These findings show the importance of combining individual transactional and systemic approaches. Results also suggest that couples may benefit from interventions that enhance social support and communications skills and manage psychological distress

Yes
BACKGROUND: Most people living with dementia want to remain in their own homes, supported by family and paid carers. Care at home often breaks down, necessitating transition to a care home and existing interventions are limited. To inform the development of psychosocial interventions to enable people with dementia to live well for longer at home, we qualitatively explored the views of people living with dementia, family carers and health and social care professionals, on how to achieve and maintain independence at home and what impedes this. METHODS: We conducted an inductive thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with 11 people living with dementia, 19 professionals and 22 family carers in England. RESULTS: We identified four overarching themes: being in a safe and familiar environment, enabling not disabling care, maintaining relationships and community connectedness, and getting the right support. For people living with dementia, the realities of staying active were complex: there was a tension between accepting support that enabled independence and a feeling that in doing so they were accepting dependency. Their and professionals' accounts prioritised autonomy and 'living well with dementia', while family carers prioritised avoiding harm. Professionals promoted positive risk-taking and facilitating independence, whereas family carers often felt they were left holding this risk. DISCUSSION: Psychosocial interventions must accommodate tensions between positive risk-taking and avoiding harm, facilitating autonomy and providing support. They should be adaptive and collaborative, combining self-management with flexible support. Compassionate implementation of rights-based dementia care must consider the emotional burden for family carers of supporting someone to live positively with risk.
This work was supported by the Alzheimer’s Society (UK) and was carried out within the UCL Alzheimer’s Society Centre of Excellence for Independence at home, NIDUS (New Interventions in Dementia Study) programme (Alzheimer’s Society Centre of Excellence grant 330). This project is also part-funded funded by The National Institute for Health Research Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast (ARC NWC).

The purpose of this study was to analyse the support systems for refugees in Southern Africa with specific reference to the Republic of Botswana. Qualitative framework as described by Lofland and Lofland (1984), Schensus and Schensus (1992) was used to conduct the investigation. Interviews were conducted with thirty refugees who currently living in Botswana as a refugee or asylum seeker. Focus group discussion was also held with twenty-six refugee workers. Interview findings were derived using Glaser and Straus' (1976) and Van Maanen, (1979) constant comparative method of qualitative analysis and were grouped into four major categories. Among the most significant findings were that the subjects agreed that on paper and by design, there are structures for providing the different services to refugees but refugees are not provided with adequate services. The second finding is that the support systems for refugees in Botswana are more focused on the provision of material support with little attention given to the psychosocial needs of the refugees. The third finding is that the Botswana government withheld some of the Articles of the 1951 UN refugee Convention, which deal with the socio-economic rights of refugees in Botswana. The fourth finding is that refugee workers need specialised training to enable them to address a wide rage of psychosocial issues affecting refugees. Last major finding is that there is no established clear system of service delivery in the participating agencies. The researcher concluded that because of trauma and stress experienced by refugees and refugee workers, there is a need to improve on the psychosocial support provided to refugees and refugee workers in Botswana by improving the knowledge and skills of refugee workers and promoting refugee participation. The researcher recommends two urgent actions that should be taken. First, the refugee management in Botswana need to improve on its service quality control mechanism, including evaluating its legal and operational framework. Second, psychosocial components need to be integrated into every aspect of the refugee programmes. This will support recovery for the many traumatised refugees and refugee workers in Botswana.
Social work
DPHIL (SOCIAL WORK)

Students in Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges (TVET) in South Africa face a number of challenges including psychological problems. These challenges have a strong bearing on the academic success of the students. The aim of the study was to examine the effectiveness of psychological support services rendered to students at Majuba TVET College. Interviews were recorded verbatim and transcribed. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse the data. The themes used were derived from the research objectives and these were further divided into categories and sub-categories. The study found that the institution does provide psychological support services to the learner. The forms of psychological support include career counselling, pre-counselling, referral system, on-going counselling and peer counselling and mentoring. Improved academic performance, improved student attendance student retention and improved college certification rate are some of the benefits that can be realised from the effective utilisation of psychological support by the students. Various challenges hinder the effective utilisation of these psychological support services including, lack of qualified personnel, being understaffed, poor referral system, conflicting roles of staff, inadequate on-site counselling, low-prioritisation of psychological support by college management and limited access time. The participants highlighted the need for the institution to establish linkages with key stakeholders such as other TVET Colleges so as to have a platform for sharing vital information on psychological support. The participants were of the view that more qualified and registered staff should be hired to bolster the provision of psychological support to students. The referral system should be improved and the participants advocated for the services to be accessible around the clock. College management should show commitment to students’ welfare by prioritising and recognising student psychological support as pivotal to students’ academic success.
Educational Studies
M. Ed. (Adult Education)

Key words: coping, disaster psychology, Integrated Rescue System, mass causalty incident, police, psychology in crisis management, psychosocial support, resiliency, risk and protective factors. This work focuses on the area of coping in members of intervening Integrated Rescue System (IRS) bodies in rescue and disaster work following a mass traffic accident. The assumptions is that a vast mass traffic accident is a type of disaster that places increased demands on coping not only for affected citizens concerned, but also on intervening professionals. It is an unexpected, urgent, and emotionally and physically demanding event that requires flexibility, heightened cooperation between different professions, and a non-standard work performance. It is an event where it is not possible to apply routine operative procedures and management. A specific group, which this work explores in depth, is that of police officers. This professional group can be expected, in the given context, to be subjected to an increased burden in comparison to other IRS bodies - medics and firefighters. The reason for this consideration is the following list of burdensome specifics, which relate to the work of police officers in mass disasters: worse material equipment for intervention and worse availability of basic needs,...