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The Problem Solving for Better HealthThe Problem Solving for Better Health® (PSBH®) program was introduced to Bulgaria by Dr. Asparuh Georgiev after he attended the first PSBH workshop in Poland. It was coordinated by the Open Society Club in Pleven under the direction of Dr. Georgiev and Mrs. Yanka Tzvetanova. The program, under the direction of Mrs. Tzvetanova, is now coordinated by the Association for Better Health, also in Pleven. Since 1999, workshops have been held in the following cities: Pleven, Rousse, Gabrovo, and Stara Zagora.
PSBH has shown to be effective in solving health problems in Bulgaria during the period of the transition to a market economy. The approach works well with medical professionals and people of all walks of life who want to solve such problems. With Problem Solving for Better Health Initiative™ (PSBHI™), project completion rates have improved due to the involvement of local governments and national and local health authorities. Non-governmental organizations have also been involved, and cooperation between them and local administrations has improved. Networking between projects has become easier and more effective.
Dr. Barry Smith and the rector of the Medical University-Pleven, Professor K. Ignatov, met in 1997 to establish collaboration between the School of Nursing at the Medical University in Pleven and the Dreyfus Health Foundation. Although the Problem Solving for Better Health – Nursing™ (PSBHN™) nursing program officially began in 2002, nursing workshops have been held in Bulgaria since 1998.
Accomplishments:
1) Early diagnosis of socially relevant diseases
2) Hospital staff team building
3) Improved education tools
4) Improved nursing standards
5) Involvement of regular nurses in training of everyday managerial skills
6) Involvement of nurses in health promotion- patient education, school health
7) Prevention of nosocomial infections
The Communication for Better Health® (CBH®) program was established at the Medical University Library in Pleven in 1997 and is coordinated by the Association for Better Health. With the assistance of an editorial board and free access to the Internet provided by the University Medical Library, the Bulgarian Health Information Digest is produced and distributed.
The library staff also provides off- and online searches of its databases. The services offered through the program are mainly for postgraduate doctors working on PSBH projects, general practitioners, postgraduate medical students, resident doctors, and undergraduate students. Project leaders are able to exchange and disseminate their local or regional experiences and/or solutions to health problems through the digest. The program has a Web site where current and past issues of the digest can be obtained, but print format is also available for those people without electronic access.
The digest contains workshop and project information, project reports, program announcements, and Medline abstracts on topics related to the projects are in English. Local health information and publications from local authors are in Bulgarian. Topics include environmental health, HIV/AIDS, hospitals/hospital administration, integration of the disabled, nursing, respiratory diseases, spinal and flat-foot deformities in children, and substance abuse.
Affiliations:
Association for Better Health Bulgarian Nursing Association Children’s Help Net Foundation Gabrovo Regional Hospital Medical University of Pleven, School of Nursing National Oncology Hospital, Sofia Pavlikeni Regional Hospital Pleven College of Nursing Pleven University Hospital Plovdiv University Hospital Regional Oncology Centers- Pleven, Vratza, Sofia Rousse College of Nursing Rousse Regional Hospital School Nurses in Varna Sofia College of Nursing Stara Zagora College of Nursing Stara Zagora University Hospital Varna University Hospital Veliko Turnovo College of Nursing
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