Conference Agenda

This study explores how patients drive meaningful changes in healthcare, focusing on accessibility, satisfaction, and service delivery through inclusive and interdisciplinary perspectives. Conducted in 2024, it analyzes healthcare trends from 2021 to 2024, emphasizing patient participation in decision-making. This sociological study highlights the interplay between healthcare accessibility and patient satisfaction within the broader framework of inclusive and interdisciplinary innovation.

Findings reveal that while 99% of the population relies on primary care, barriers persist in accessing specialist services and navigating the doctor registration system. Reports of accessibility and quality issues increased from 30% in 2021 to 48% in 2024 due to organizational shifts, leading 29% of patients to seek private care to avoid long wait times.

Healthcare utilization rebounded, with service visits rising from 23 million in 2020 to 28 million in 2023, exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Primary care, diagnostics, and specialist consultations dominate service use, while mental health, rehabilitation, and nursing remain underutilized. Emergency services serve nearly half the population, yet only 64% rate secondary care positively, exposing quality gaps.

The study advocates for patient-centred reforms, reducing bureaucracy, enhancing accessibility, and fostering institutional collaboration. Structural investments are essential for sustainability, as private healthcare provides only temporary relief.

By emphasizing patients’ roles in shaping healthcare policy, this research contributes to social innovation discourse. It challenges traditional paradigms by advocating a model where patient feedback and participation drive reform, aligning with SOCIN’s vision of inclusive, interdisciplinary, and impactful healthcare innovations.

Pregnancy is widely recognized as a transformative period with profound physical, emotional, and psychological implications for women. However, the mental health challenges faced by their male partners during this period remain significantly underexplored, particularly in rural and resource-limited contexts such as South Africa. This study seeks to address this gap by investigating the specific mental health challenges experienced by men whose partners are pregnant in Thulamela Municipality, Limpopo Province, Vhembe Thohoyandou. The research aims to explore the psychological, emotional, and social stressors affecting these men, their coping mechanisms, and the broader cultural and societal factors that shape their experiences.

Employing a qualitative research approach, the study will utilize an exploratory research design to gain in-depth insights into the lived experiences of participants. Non-probability purposive sampling, complemented by snowball sampling techniques, will be employed to select participants who have direct experience with the phenomenon under investigation. Data collection will involve semi-structured interviews designed to elicit rich, descriptive narratives, while thematic data analysis will be used to identify patterns, themes, and key insights.

Shedding light on the mental health experiences of men during their partners' pregnancies, this study contributes to a growing body of literature emphasizing the need for inclusive and holistic approaches to maternal and paternal health. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of integrating men's mental health into public health policies and interventions, particularly in underserved rural communities. Ethical considerations, including informed consent, confidentiality, and cultural sensitivity, will be prioritized throughout the research process to ensure the study's rigor and integrity.

In today's VUCA world - Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous - the one constant and integral part of our existence seems to be… stress.

However, when there is too much of it and we do not know how to manage it, it has a major negative impact on health and quality of life.

Learning effective and safe techniques for coping and effectively reducing the impact of stress on the body is therefore an urgent social need.

In response to these challenges, a spontaneously formed, an interdisciplinary team, geographically dispersed and collaborating almost exclusively online, created, planned, tested and researched a social innovation - a psycho-educational tool for de-stressing and learning anti-stress techniques.

All in an attractive, engaging and effective way, over 4 years of voluntary work (2021-2025). The Social Innovation Creation Model was used. A number of multidisciplinary studies were conducted - psychological, marketing (qualitative and quantitative) and physiological, looking at changes in levels of cortisol - the stress hormone.

The ethics and psychological safety of the game were reviewed.

The result was STRESmission - a tool in the form of a card and board game.

The results of the research were so promising that STRESSmission was launched on the market after a crowdfunding campaign, representing a successful case of university-environment cooperation, the applicability of research results and their commercialisation.

Background: In 2023, the WHO promoted a worldwide qualitative study investigating adverse psychosocial conditions among the older population during the COVID-19 pandemic. The preliminary results underline that, in comparison to pre-pandemic times, older people have experienced an increase in adverse psychosocial effects such as loneliness and stress (+31%), depression (+30%), anxiety (+25%), and sleeping problems (+14%). Italy, was selected as the European case study country in the WHO investigation.

Aims: This study aims at understanding the indirect adverse psychosocial impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on the health and well-being of older people in Italy, and at investigating the potential indirect of the COVID-19 crisis in promoting innovative strategies in tackling elder care related challenges.

Methods: In 2024, a qualitative study was conducted, based on: a) a rapid review of 60 support initiatives for older people promoted in Italy during the COVID-19; b) nine in-depth interviews with older people aged 70+; c) a focus group with key stakeholders operating in the Marche region.

Results: ICT has been effective at both the individual and social levels to contrast the adverse psychosocial effects in older people. Participants agreed to consider the COVID-19 time as a “learning experience” for changing their attitudes on ICT use, and at the meso and macro level for promoting innovative policies and solutions.

Conclusion: ICT use reduced the adverse indirect effects of the pandemic on the health and well-being of Italian older people, and its spread was considered as a powerful strategy for developing innovative policies targeted to seniors.