In the project (BEPEX - Best Practices Exchange), special attention was paid to the visits of experts from the Institute for Public Health who are dealing with the monitoring and information support of communicable diseases, but also educating all the reporters in the Slovenian health system via workshops in the organisation itself and related expert partners. Communicable diseases still represent a significant problem of public health in the undeveloped, as well as in the developed countries, and so the countries are paying special attention to their monitoring and management.
The experts from the Institute for Public Health travelled to different European knowledge centres:
1. SMI -Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control
2. RIVM-Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
3. STAKES -Finnish National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health
4. KTL - National Public Health Institute in Finland
Their study visits covered various fields of methodology processes, communication, and processing: data collecting, analyses and information support to the processes of receiving, data processing in the health care, and database organisation. The work programme contained: presentations of organisations and departments, exchange of experience and good practice of surveillance system of communicable diseases in visited countries, workshops, laboratory visits, practical presentations and summing up outcomes.
The participants were asked to submit evaluation reports and questionnaires in order to assess whether the results met the aims set out in the project proposal. The recorded and reviewed reports showed that the project aims have been achieved.
Participants experienced benefits were: exchanging experiences, good practises and ideas, regarding the monitoring, information support and education in the field of communicable diseases, improvement of intercultural competences (communication in English language and use of terminology in English, international cooperation and new lasting contacts) and professional competences (new methods, exchange of knowledge, working in teams, improvement of ICT knowledge, ability to compare and evaluate results). Acquired skills and competences were validated through a certificate of the coordinator Prava poteza- the certificate confirms that the participant actively participated in the project, through the issued Europass mobility and through internal recognition in the Institute for Public Health.
