Page 188 - Petelin, Ana. 2021. Ed. Zdravje starostnikov / Health of the Elderly. Proceedings. Koper: University of Primorska Press.
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avje starostnikov | health of the elderly 186 permanent supply of medication, the problems will certainly recur or the cur-
rent mental state will deteriorate (Philip & Cherian, 2020).
The impact of the epidemic on mental health in Slovenia
People‘s exhaustion due to the epidemic is a response of people to a long-last-
ing public health crisis, which significantly interferes with the daily life of the
individual. Symptoms appear gradually, influenced by emotions, experiences,
and attitudes. The severity and scale of the COVID-19 epidemic and the intro-
duction of strict measures to prevent the spread of the infection have a very
large impact on the population, including that group of people not directly af-
fected by the virus. Exhaustion causes compensatory mechanisms in people to
manage the crisis situation and thus reduce the motivation to follow the rec-
ommended self- protection measures (NIJZ, 2021) . When reviewing foreign
research, we found that there is a correlation between epidemic and epidemi-
ological measures and depressive symptoms, which is in contrast to the Slove-
nian study (SI-PANDA, 2021), which shows that the presence of these symp-
toms in the 12th wave of research decreased in of all age groups, and in general
it was the lowest in the age group of 65 to 74 years. Depressive symptoms in the
initial phase are often not detected in time in half of the persons, which indi-
cates the need for more effective preventive treatment in the Reference dispen-
sary of Family Medicine with screening and counseling. In the 13th wave of
the SI-PANDA survey (2021), respondents were asked about how often they felt
tense, stressed or under a lot of pressure in the last 14 days. Almost a quarter
of respondents (23.3 %) experienced stress on a daily or frequent basis. The ex-
perience of stress decreases with age and is the lowest in the oldest age group
from 65 to 74 years, approximately 9.1 %. Compared to the data from the CIN-
DI survey, which took place about a year ago, the proportions of respondents
are higher a year later, as in 2020 about 7 % less (16, 3 %) reported that they ex-
perience stress often or on a daily basis. As expected, stress is more often ex-
perienced by respondents who show signs of depressive disorder, the majority
- almost 70% compared to those who have mental health problems (35.3 % ex-
perience stress daily or often).
Depression and Reference Clinic
Reference dispensary of Family Medicine (hereinafter RDFM) plays an impor-
tant role in the earliest possible detection. Communication between the pa-
tient and members of the healthcare team is of key importance in the RDFM,
as all their tasks are focused on the well- being of patients (Projektna pisar-
na referenčnih ambulant, 2011). The implementation of preventive activities is
in the domain of RDFM, which also includes the treatment of a depressed pa-
tient. It is therefore very important that the nurse at RDFM is well educated in
this area so that she can detect the signs in time and alert the doctor to this.
Often at the beginning of the signs of depression, we do not notice or confuse
them with other illnesses, as they often appear slowly. Every sixth person will
rent mental state will deteriorate (Philip & Cherian, 2020).
The impact of the epidemic on mental health in Slovenia
People‘s exhaustion due to the epidemic is a response of people to a long-last-
ing public health crisis, which significantly interferes with the daily life of the
individual. Symptoms appear gradually, influenced by emotions, experiences,
and attitudes. The severity and scale of the COVID-19 epidemic and the intro-
duction of strict measures to prevent the spread of the infection have a very
large impact on the population, including that group of people not directly af-
fected by the virus. Exhaustion causes compensatory mechanisms in people to
manage the crisis situation and thus reduce the motivation to follow the rec-
ommended self- protection measures (NIJZ, 2021) . When reviewing foreign
research, we found that there is a correlation between epidemic and epidemi-
ological measures and depressive symptoms, which is in contrast to the Slove-
nian study (SI-PANDA, 2021), which shows that the presence of these symp-
toms in the 12th wave of research decreased in of all age groups, and in general
it was the lowest in the age group of 65 to 74 years. Depressive symptoms in the
initial phase are often not detected in time in half of the persons, which indi-
cates the need for more effective preventive treatment in the Reference dispen-
sary of Family Medicine with screening and counseling. In the 13th wave of
the SI-PANDA survey (2021), respondents were asked about how often they felt
tense, stressed or under a lot of pressure in the last 14 days. Almost a quarter
of respondents (23.3 %) experienced stress on a daily or frequent basis. The ex-
perience of stress decreases with age and is the lowest in the oldest age group
from 65 to 74 years, approximately 9.1 %. Compared to the data from the CIN-
DI survey, which took place about a year ago, the proportions of respondents
are higher a year later, as in 2020 about 7 % less (16, 3 %) reported that they ex-
perience stress often or on a daily basis. As expected, stress is more often ex-
perienced by respondents who show signs of depressive disorder, the majority
- almost 70% compared to those who have mental health problems (35.3 % ex-
perience stress daily or often).
Depression and Reference Clinic
Reference dispensary of Family Medicine (hereinafter RDFM) plays an impor-
tant role in the earliest possible detection. Communication between the pa-
tient and members of the healthcare team is of key importance in the RDFM,
as all their tasks are focused on the well- being of patients (Projektna pisar-
na referenčnih ambulant, 2011). The implementation of preventive activities is
in the domain of RDFM, which also includes the treatment of a depressed pa-
tient. It is therefore very important that the nurse at RDFM is well educated in
this area so that she can detect the signs in time and alert the doctor to this.
Often at the beginning of the signs of depression, we do not notice or confuse
them with other illnesses, as they often appear slowly. Every sixth person will
