Caring for a person with mental illness affects caregivers emotionally, financially, physically, and it elicits some restrictions in their routine (daily hassles). Finally, it causes conflicts in family relationships. Despite some differences regarding perceived burden among caregivers of schizophrenia and affective disorders, a common pattern of burden could be identified. Thus, authorities should provide adequate financial, educational, and psychosocial supports for caregivers of mental illnesses.

The prevalence of child obesity in the Czech Republic has increased in the last several years, especially among school-aged children. While obesity trends are closely monitored in the Czech Republic, very little is known about the dietary habits and exercise behaviors of Czech children. The purpose of this study was to evaluate nutrient intakes and physical activity, as well as identify predictors of BMI-for-age in a sample of Czech school-aged children. Ninety-seven fourth, fifth and sixth graders and their parents from two large Czech cities participated in the study. Two 24-hour recalls provided total amount of energy, fat, percentage of energy derived from fat, dietary fiber, and servings of fruits and vegetables. Physical activity was measured by the Self-administered Physical Activity Checklist (SAPAC). Children consumed less energy and dietary fiber than suggested by Czech dietary recommendations. The proportion of energy that children consumed from fat was 28.5%. Children consumed 1.4 cups of fruit and 1.2 cups of vegetables. Children's physical activity levels fell within the current recommendations. Age was the only significant predictor of higher BMI-for-age. Poor dietary quality may be responsible for increasing rates of child obesity in the Czech Republic. Nutritional professionals in the Czech Republic should focus on increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and other high-fiber foods in order to reduce the risk for overweight among Czech children.

Introduction Patients are increasingly searching the Internet for information on health-related topics. Research design We examined the use of the Internet by women with breast cancer and men with prostate cancer with an online questionnaire. On the basis of 563 respondents, the ways, the scope, and the targets of the reported Internet search were analyzed, as well as the related expectations and experiences of the users. A special focus was laid on the question of how Internet information influences the illness-related decision-making processes and the doctor-patient relationship. Results While trust in physicans and their medical authority is not being fundamentally questioned, patients are increasingly confronting their doctors with high expectations concerning transparent information, openness, and willingness to shared decision-making; they want to know the doctors' opinions on various possibilities of treatment, and they expect serious comment on their findings in the Net.

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Drop-out is not a definite term. Instead, it consists of different dimensions. 3 personal factors for predicting a drop-out could be identified: suffering from depression, negative health assessment and lack of social support. Generally speaking, drop-out of vocational retraining is a complex and mainly situational process which can hardly be predicted by personal factors, job-biographies or foregoing unemployment.