Sociology and Business Law

L’articolo presenta i risultati di una ricerca condotta attraverso questionari e interviste con 201 docenti di storia contemporanea delle università italiane. La ricognizione, volta a mettere in luce la molteplicità degli usi didattici dell’audiovisivo, è stata orientata a capire non solo quale risalto venga dato oggi alla fonte audiovisiva nella ricerca storica, ma anche in che modo i docenti interagiscono con essa di fronte al pubblico studentesco e lo istruiscono a decifrarla. La distribuzione all’interno di corsi triennali o magistrali, la formula del laboratorio, l’adeguatezza delle strutture, le competenze e l’educazione all’immagine di docenti e studenti sono alcuni degli elementi presi in considerazione per disegnare una mappatura essenziale dell’utilizzo dell’audiovisivo in un contesto, come quello italiano, gravato da una tardiva elaborazione critica sull’argomento.

The paper discloses the results of a survey carried out through questionnaires and interviews with 201 professors of Contemporary History within Italian Universities. The aim of the survey was to highlight the variety of the educational uses of audiovisuals in order to understand the emphasis given to audiovisual sources in current historical research as well as the ways history teachers manage these sources and train students to deconstruct them. The allocation within BA, MA programs or seminars, the adequacy of classrooms, the skills and interests of teachers and students are some of the factors taken into account for drawing an essential map of audiovisual uses in the Italian academic context, weighed down by a late critical elaboration on the subject.

Background and aim of the work: In recent years, health professionals’ education has moved towards the increasing use of blended learning. One of the most widespread blended formulas is the mix of face-to-face and online learning, which combines the advantages of distance learning, both in training provision and in training fruition, with the maintenance of socialization goals and application to practice activities. This literature review aims to find out whether blended-learning is employed for improving health professionals’ communication skills and which are its outcomes. Methods: Literature review of publications released from January 2000 to January 2019 was conducted across the academic databases Cinahl (EBSCO), Cochrane and Pubmed using relevant keywords. Results: Research has shown that blended learning is used in the education of different health professionals (students, nurses, physicians, etc.) at various stages of the educational path. The enhancement of communication skills appears to be a secondary learning objective in many studies, but it is shown to be nevertheless central to the proper acquisition and application of more clinical skills addressed by the blended courses. The blended modules here examined achieved their goals. However, the evaluation of the learning outcomes is still based on self-assessment, and thus needs to be implemented. Conclusions: Blended learning providers would need to pay more attention in the design and implementation phases of blended modules, assessing participants’ needs and offering more tailored and targeted programs, and should provide a more rigorous evaluation of learning outcomes.

Background and aim of the work: The main factor hindering the development of the Myanmar health system lies in the scarcity of financial and human resources attributed to the health system. This paper presents the preliminary results of a pilot study on the educational needs of Myanmar health professionals, addressing the empowerment of human resources as a strategic pillar for delivering the essential packages of health services. Methods: An explorative study following a qualitative approach has been conducted through semi-structured interviews to a convenience sample of 15 persons, selected as authoritative key-informants. Results: In addition to the lack of infrastructures, medicines, ambulances and health instruments, and the health disparities between the urban and rural areas, some widespread problems are reported as requiring health professionals' training empowerment: traumas due to road accidents, management of childbirth, non-communicable diseases' management and poor health education of the population. Discussion: Some areas can be evidenced for an improvement of professionals, training: maternal, neonatal and child health; communication between professionals and laypeople; Myanmar population's health education; inter-professional training between doctors and nurses, but also between health personnel and non-health personnel. Conclusions: The educational needs of Myanmar health professionals emerge as closely related to the social and health needs of the Myanmar population, to the available resources and missing resources of the country's health system and to the role of professionals within professionals/patients' relationship.

Background: Appropriateness is particularly relevant in palliative care, an area in which it is essential to question the real need for treatments. Few studies explored the perception of appropriateness by professionals in pediatric palliative care, revealing the conflict sometimes faced when confronted with the uncertainty of prognosis and end-of-life decisions. Aims: The objective of this study is firstly to investigate the perception that doctors, nurses and psychologists, operating in Italian pediatric hospices, have of the appropriateness of the care they provide. Secondly, to understand what repercussions the perception of non-appropriateness has at individual and team level. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted between 2019 and 2020 through semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 17 professionals working it Ital-ian pediatric hospices. Results: The interviewees do not refer to a common concept of appropriateness, but compare the latter to: the quality of life, the global care of the assisted person, the proportionality of care, the early recognition of the need for palliative care. The discussion within the team emerges as a privileged place to manage the discomfort of individual professionals in the face of treatment choices in conflict with their own values. Conclusion: the non-referring to a univocal conception of appropriateness deprives professionals of an objective criterion to resolve the most difficult decisions. However, it allows them to establish what from time to time seems to be the most appropriate care pathway for a given patient, at a given time and context, preserving the goal of personalized care.

This paper is an empirical work focused on consumption as a social action through the interpretative means, as an individual strategy of inclusion/exclusion and as a mean to the identity construction. Our research addresses gender issues related to consumer behaviour. Gender and consumption indeed play a major role from a sociological perspective in the way social relationships are constructed. To illustrate this, we chose to focus on the proposal to axe VAT on tampons and menstrual cups (dubbed "Tampon Tax") as a specific case study, due to its recent relevant to the political agenda of many European countries. Our main hypothesis posit that the "Tampon Tax" exemplifies a tendency to consider gender-specific essential goods as luxury goods, hence expanding the gender-gap. However, each European country seem to tackle the "Tampon Tax" debate in a peculiar manner. Within the directive 2009/132/EC that prohibits the zero VAT on certain products, some countries charge tampons at a reduced rate (France, UK), while others charge the standard rate (Italy, Greece). The aim of our work is to review the European discourse on "Tampon-Tax" in order to (1) provide theoretical and empirical support to our thesis and (2) to assess potential contradictions within the political action and its effect on the public opinion as well as on women's movements in the UE. Through the mixed method research, we will make use of database and price trends from the European Union countries, as well as a qualitative analysis of the Italian public debate within a broader European framework. In conclusion, our results describe, "Tampon Tax" as a useful vehicle to tackle questions related to the relationship between gender and consumption.