Cancer creates a difficult situation connected with an extreme psychological burden for the patient, with the main symptom being the high level of stress resulting from the necessity to change the hierarchy of values and life goals, the prospect of physical pain and dependence on others. The main goal of the research was to determine the scope of social support recognized by patients with cancer. Determination of the phases of disease predominantly burdened with stress as well as methods of stress reduction was the indirect goal of the research. The research was conducted in the Wielkopolska province in 2008, and included a target group of patients with head or neck cancer treated by an oncological clinic. The researchers used a diagnostic poll as the method, and a questionnaire as the instrument. THE RESULTS SHOWED THAT PATIENTS EXPECT AND ARE GRANTED SUPPORT OF TWO BASIC TYPES: emotional: allowing them to conquer their own internal tension and negative feelings, to express their fear, anxiety and sorrow, and to give rise to hope; and practical: aiming at the exchange and provision of information and advice that bring about better understanding of their condition, life situation and problems. The latter type of support results in the collection of feedback on the effectiveness of countermeasures taken by the supported patients, and exchange of information about certain procedures and the form of modelling efficient countermeasures.

Introduction.Health is most frequently defi ned as full well-being in the biological, psychological and social sense. A disorder of a person's functioning in any of these spheres triggers changes in the remaining ones. Such destabilization may result in losing the ability to cope with everyday situations. Aim. The objective of the study was to recognize the self-assessment of the mental well-being, along with the selected elements of the social situation, of young, physically impaired persons living in the countryside. Materials and Methods. The research was conducted on the population of physically disabled individualswith legally granted disability class, living in the countryside in the Wielkopolskie province, aged 18-45 years. The applied technique was an interview based on an original questionnaire with 96 questions. Results. Over a half of the respondents confi rmed that their disability affects their mental state. They often suffer from depressed mood, feeling of loneliness, feeling of being a "burden" for others. As many as 41.7% of respondents admitted suicidal thoughts. Conclusions. The situation of disabled people living in the countryside is particularly diffi cult. Financial problems, unemployment, limited access to health care negatively infl uence the mental well-being of young persons, often leading to a depressed mood. In consequence, they often experience suicidal thoughts.

BackgroundThe prevalence of newly-diagnosed cases of chronic hepatitis is decisive for the overall incidence rate of hepatitis B observed in Poland.ObjectivesWe aimed to determine the chronic hepatitis B incidence trends in Poland, taking into consideration the ages, genders, and environments of the patients.MethodsThe study is based on aggregated data from Polish descriptive epidemiological studies for the period of 2005 to 2013 (i.e., hepatitis B incidence numbers and ratios, including mixed HBV and HCV infections) as published in the annual bulletins Choroby zakazne i zatrucia w Polsce (Infectious diseases and poisonings in Poland] drawn up by the laboratory for the monitoring and analysis of epidemiological status of the department of epidemiology at the national institute of public health - national institute of hygiene (NIPH-NIH). Poland, a central European country situated in the humid continental climate zone, is classified as a highly developed country. In the analyzed period, the Polish population consisted of about 38 million people, more than 19 million of whom were women, and more than 18 million of whom were men. Among European countries, Poland has the smallest number of national and ethnic minorities. For the purposes of epidemiological supervision, a special definition of acute hepatitis B was adopted in Poland in 2005, which facilitated separate registration of acute and chronic cases.ResultsA significantly increasing chronic hepatitis B incidence trend was observed in the population of Poland, with considerable increases in incidence rates for both men and women alike. The incidence rates for inhabitants of both urban and rural areas also showed an increasing tendency. Chronic hepatitis B occurred more frequently in men and in urban areas. For each of the five-year age groups encompassing patients between 20 and 54 years of age, the increase in the incidence rate proved to be significant.ConclusionsThe registered increase in the incidence rate of chronic hepatitis B in Poland is a consequence of the new registration of cases of chronic hepatitis B acquired in the past. The problem of chronic hepatitis B can be solved by improving epidemiological supervision, enhancing the detection of frequently asymptomatic infections, and by providing easier access to optimized therapies.

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