COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION OF CROATIAN DEFENDERS TREATED from post-traumatic stress disorder REPUBLIC OF CROATIAN

In the premises of the Association of War Veterans 84. guard battalion "Termites" (Ulica hrvatsko sabora b.b) in Zadar, 10. March 2023. The, the sixth and also the last presentation of the proposal for guidelines for the creation of public policies on the topic "Health care of Croatian veterans" was held as part of the project "Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future", co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The mentioned event was organized by the project manager, The Association of Associations of Veterans of Croatian Guards in cooperation with the project partner - the Association of War Veterans 84. guard battalion "Termites".
The guidelines were created on the basis of expert research and field experience that was conducted in September 2021. year on the sample of 300 of the respondents, and members of the target population – Croatian veterans, they were presented by the adviser of the thematic network for health, Stanko Šincek, mag. with. techn.
The importance of systematic monitoring of health status through the organization of systematic examinations by the Ministry of Croatian Veterans contracted with a health institution is indicated, as well as the importance of responding to the same, as well as the importance of improving the possibility of continuous monitoring of psychosocial status through expanding the tasks of county centers for psychosocial assistance that would take care of the target population. Furthermore, the necessity of developing an institutional and non-institutional support network by strengthening cooperation between institutions that deal with the mentioned issue and the civil sector that helps the mentioned population is stated, through the employment of professionals and the organization of the appropriate space. Sensitization of society for the veteran population is also necessary: introducing the public to the problems and difficulties of the veteran population by means of public forums and seminars, in order to enable a better understanding and integration of veterans into the social community and thereby speed up their recovery. At the end of the presentation, preventive measures and several tips and recommendations for a healthier and better quality life are listed.
The aim and desire of the organizers is to include the aforementioned guidelines in the legislative framework in order to improve the quality of life of Croatian veterans, other victims of the Homeland War and their families, and thus the creation of a happier and more prosperous society as a whole.
Project UP.04.2.1.06.0004 "Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future" co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The implementation period is 28. 10. 2020. – 28. 10. 2023., and the total value of the project and the amount of EU co-financing 476.577,83 euros. The holder of the project is the Association of Veterans of the Croatian Guards, which, together with partners from civil society and the scientific community, implements a project with the purpose of contributing to the quality of life of Croatian veterans and victims of the Homeland War.

In the premises of the Association of Veterans 4. guard brigade in Split, 3. March 2023. The, the sixth and last presentation of the proposal for guidelines in the development of public policies on the topic "Work activity of Croatian veterans and involvement in social entrepreneurship" was held as part of the project "Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future", reported as part of the call for submission of project proposals "Thematic Networks for Socio-Economic Development", co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The mentioned event was organized by the project manager, The Association of Associations of Veterans of Croatian Guards in cooperation with the project partner - the Association of Veterans 4. Guards Brigade. The guidelines were created on the basis of expert research as part of the project, and they were presented to those present by an external associate for social entrepreneurship, Alen Halilović.
Members of the target population - Croatian veterans - were familiar with many advantages and some disadvantages of social entrepreneurship and the differences between a social and a private profit-making enterprise. It is a new way of doing business that represents a combination of entrepreneurial practices and values ​​closely related to social responsibility and the principles of environmental protection, and is also one of the relatively new concepts in the economy and rests on goals completely opposite to those on which the dominant market economy rests. The aim of social entrepreneurship is not solely to increase profits, so neither is the distribution of profits, but the fulfillment of social tasks, helping those groups in society who are at risk of social exclusion.
Strategy for the development of social entrepreneurship in the Republic of Croatia for the period from 2015. do 2020. social entrepreneurship is defined as business based on social principles, environmental and economic sustainability, where the generated profit/surplus income is fully or largely invested for the benefit of the community.

In the premises of the Association of Veterans 4. Guards Brigade (Ruđer Bošković 25) in Split, 2. March 2023. The, the sixth and last structured dialogue "Health care for veterans in the Republic of Croatia" was held as part of the project "Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future", reported as part of the call for submission of project proposals "Thematic Networks for Socio-Economic Development", co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The organizer of the mentioned event is the Association of Associations of Veterans of Croatian Guards in cooperation with project partners - the Association of Associations of Croatian Veterans Treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder of the Republic of Croatia and the Association of Veterans 4. Guards Brigade. On behalf of the organizers, those present greeted Siniš Troh, president of the Association of Associations of Veterans of the Croatian Guards, Dušan Rogulja, member of the presidency of the Association of Associations of Croatian veterans treated for post-traumatic stress disorder of the Republic of Croatia and Borislav Lapenda, president of the Association of Veterans 4. Guards Brigade. In front of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans, they addressed prim. dr. sc. Kornelija Brkić, dr.sve.med, and the representatives of the county were the deputy prefects, Mr. Stipe Čogelja and the head of the administrative department for Croatian veterans, civil protection and human rights of Split-Dalmatia County, B.Sc. ing. Damir Gabrić. On behalf of the National Foundation for the Development of Civil Society, Anamarija Dobranić participated, head of the operations selection department, Filip Stanković, associate for ICT and Domagoj Pavelić, associate for content production. General information about the project, participants, strategic goals and implemented activities were presented by its leader Ida Maček.
Proposal of guidelines for the development of public policies on the topic "Health care of Croatian veterans", based on research and field experiences, was presented by the adviser of the thematic network for health, mag. with. tech Stanko Šincek, emphasizing the importance of preventive measures, treatment and palliative medicine. Emilija Hlišć, master of psychology, followed up on the guidelines with the topic "The importance of social participation of Croatian veterans in the level of quality of life" and stated that social participation and involvement are important aspects of life that are associated with feelings of cohesion and usefulness and strongly influence its quality..
Coordinator of guidelines development and master's degree in psychology, Ivana Maslov, she presented suggestions for guidelines on the topic of dialogue, created on the basis of public opinion research as part of the project, related to the health condition of Croatian veterans and health care in the Republic of Croatia with an emphasis on how to improve it.
The lecture on post-traumatic stress disorder was given by a specialist psychiatrist, dr. with, Anđelko Beg and B.Sc. psychologist Trpimir Jurić presented the definition, history and clinical picture of the disease from which many members of the target population suffer. Those present were also introduced to the criteria for establishing a diagnosis, diagnostic features, risk and prognostic factors and methods of treatment itself, while he is a specialist psychiatrist, dr. with. Mariano Kaliterna presented health care within and beyond the standard of law from compulsory health insurance, also following on from medical rehabilitation and exemption from participating in health care costs from the mandatory insurance for Croatian veterans.
Project UP.04.2.1.06.0004 "Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future" co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The implementation period is 28. 10. 2020. – 28. 10. 2023., and the total value of the project and the amount of EU co-financing 476.577,83 euros. The holder of the project is the Association of Veterans of the Croatian Guards, which, together with partners from civil society and the scientific community, implements a project with the purpose of contributing to the quality of life of Croatian veterans and victims of the Homeland War.

At the Croatian Catholic University, 2. February 2023. the fifth structured dialogue of the Veterans Thematic Network was held, on this "Croatian public opinion about veterans - images created through the media".  On behalf of the organizers, Prof. dr. sc. Željko Tanjić, rector of the Croatian Catholic University, Siniša Troha, president of the Association of Associations of Veterans of the Croatian Guards, Siniša Vinković, vice president of the Association of Veterans of the Homeland War INA-Naftaplina ”FIVE” te Lina Lena Soukup, Head of the Independent Sector for Strategic Planning and EU Projects of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans. General information about the project and its implementation was presented by its leader Ida Maček, stressing the importance of establishing cooperation with the academic community, through which new ones were built, that is, deepening the existing ones, competence, knowledge and skills in civil society organizations. The results of the research entitled "Media analysis of Croatian veterans in the period from 2010. do 2020. years" was presented by Assoc. dr. sc. Mateja Plenković, which she conducted with a team of four other scientists from the Department of Sociology of the Croatian Catholic University – dr. sc. Miriam Mary Brgles (research manager), prof. dr. sc. Gordan Črpić, prof. dr. sc. Roko Mišetić and assistant. dr. sc- Josip Ježovita and Assoc. prof. dr. sc. Ivan Balabanić from the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Croatian Studies. The general goal of the research was to gain insight into the patterns of media coverage of Croatian veterans. The research was conducted during 2021. i 2022. The. The content analysis method was used, and the research covers the period from 1. January 2010. year to 31. December 2020. The. The contents were published in five print media and eleven internet portals. The unit of analysis was a media report in which Croatian veterans are the main content topic. The total was analyzed 11849 media attachment, and the most common types of articles analyzed are news and reports from the field. The first research results will be published in a scientific article in a journalMedia, Culture and Public Relations. Antun Plenković, university specialist in political science from the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar, he presented the results of scientific research "Research of public opinion about the veteran population on a convenient sample".
-Public sentiment towards war veterans is in many cases dissonant. On the one hand, they are respected, treated as heroes and valuable members of society, s druge marginalized. Therefore, stigmatization is not rare either. The research results show that veterans' satisfaction with their personal life is high despite significant external burdens. It can be concluded that this satisfaction has a sufficient compensatory effect in relation to the action of social and institutional factors that cause veterans' dissatisfaction. However, this does not apply to the entire population. Although in a smaller percentage, in the case of many veterans, the compensatory effect from their personal lives is missing, which is why they remain without support on a personal and institutional level. This significantly disrupts their relationships with the environment and affects their personal and social dysfunctionality, Plenković said. Master's degree in psychology and coordinator of guidelines development, Ivana Maslov, presenting the guidelines, she pointed out that by increasing non-stereotypical representations of Croatian veterans, we can mitigate the effect of negative stereotypical representations, therefore, financial and organizational support is needed for projects that will raise awareness of the multidimensionality and importance of veterans among all citizens of the Republic of Croatia, regardless of political orientation and attitudes. Through the media, but also within the school system, it is necessary to build a realistic picture of the Croatian veterans as honorable fighters who enabled the creation of the free Republic of Croatia, and most of them are still active today in the fight to preserve national identity and improve the living conditions of all citizens, and particularly sensitive social groups.
The view of this topic was also presented by the Master of Psychology, former veteran and initiator of cooperation between veterans' associations and the academic community, Sandra Sucurovic. She referred to the image of Croatian veterans and the Homeland War in the media and how it affects their emotional state and quality of life.
Before opening the discussion, Mario Filipi addressed the audience, Croatian war invalid and veteran and author of the books "Nikola Tesla under the cobweb" and "On the Eastern Threshold of the Homeland", referring to many heroes of the Homeland War, that, unfortunately, today they are not mentioned anywhere nor is the public familiar with their victims.
Project UP.04.2.1.06.0004 "Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future" co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The implementation period is 28. 10. 2020. – 28. 10. 2023., and the total value of the project and the amount of EU co-financing 476.577,83 euros. The holder of the project is the Association of Veterans of the Croatian Guards, which, together with partners from civil society and the scientific community, implements a project with the purpose of contributing to the quality of life of Croatian veterans and victims of the Homeland War.

Dana 22. December 2022. The, on the Square of Victims of Fascism 1 in Zagreb in 17:00 i 17:30 hours, in cooperation with the project partner, the Association of Special Police from the Homeland War of the Republic of Croatia, the presentation of the proposal for guidelines for the development of public policies on the topics Work activity of veterans and involvement in social entrepreneurship and Health care of Croatian veterans was held as part of the project Analysis of social factors affecting the quality of life of the veteran population - guidelines for the future, which was co-financed by the European Union from the European Social Fund. The guidelines were created on the basis of expert research, and they were presented to the target group by the external associate for social entrepreneurship Alen Halilović mag. oec and the adviser of the thematic network for health Stanko Šincek mag. med. tech. In addition to the target population, Croatian veterans, the presentation was attended by parliamentarian Mr. Damir Habijan and representatives of the Ministry of Croatian Veterans and the city of Zagreb. After the presentation of the guidelines, an appropriate reception was held, attended by the Minister of Defense, dr. sc. Mario Banožić. After the welcoming speech of the President of the Association of Associations of Veterans of Croatian Guards, Mr. Siniša Troha and the introductory speech of the project manager Ida Maček, those present were addressed by Stanko Šincek, mag.med.techn., and mag.oec. Alen Halilović, presenting the guidelines proposals. At the end, perspective from the legislative framework was presented by Damir Habijan, BA. During the presentation, the participants learned about the advantages and disadvantages of social entrepreneurship, as well as differences in relation to traditional entrepreneurship. It is a form of entrepreneurship that represents a type of business driven primarily by social goals and the creation of a positive social and environmental impact, and significantly contributes to the achievement of strategic goals, especially social cohesion, fight against poverty and increased employment, creation of new products, resource conservation, valuing heritage and biodiversity and improving the quality of life through business for social welfare. It is a concept that drives the creation of economic and social value through the construction of social changes that meet the needs and offer employment of hard-to-employ and marginalized social categories.. Unlike traditional entrepreneurship, the profit made through this type of entrepreneurship model is reinvested by investing in the community or is used for the implementation of other programs and goals that contribute to the improvement of living conditions, environmental protection and sustainable development. On the same day, the presentation of the proposal for guidelines on the topic of health care for Croatian veterans took place. Great emphasis was placed on the area that deals with health issues of the target population, considering the high morbidity and mortality of Croatian veterans., in order to motivate them to regular systematic examinations and to understand the importance of psychosocial health. Those present were familiar with the results of expert research on the basis of which the guidelines were created. They indicate the importance of maintaining and improving mental health and psychological factors in order to improve the general quality of life of individuals and ultimately create a happier and more functional society as a whole.

During December, two workshops were held in cooperation with the Croatian Association for Suicide Prevention. The workshops were held in Ogulin and Zagreb. The goal of the workshops is to help participants recognize the main causes of stress in everyday situations and learn how to deal with them. Recognize and become aware of "negative" emotions such as anger and inner tension and how you can regulate your own psychophysical state and encourage positive thinking.

During December, two workshops were held with the aim of getting closer to the veteran population, but also to the general public, topics of European funds and Defense cooperatives as a model of social entrepreneurship in the community.
The plans and main guidelines of the ESF+ fund were presented, and the priorities are highlighted as special:
– adaptability of workers to new skills,
– better access to employment
– lifelong learning and vocational training
– providing assistance in the employment of persons from disadvantaged groups (fight against marginalization)
Also, the main goals are also presented, the values ​​and principles of social enterprises, and the positive effects of social enterprises at local levels are also presented.

In the period from 16. do 18. December 2022. representatives of ZUHBLPTSPRH visited the Single Organization of Veterans "Union of Veterans", Sarajevo Canton. On that occasion, they took part in the Round Table, the topic of which was "Cooperation and exchange of membership experiences related to the issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder". The representatives of the Community hosted the representatives of the JOB "Union of Veterans" Canton of Sarajevo in Zagreb, and further cooperation and a common approach in solving open issues in the World Veterans Federation, of which both associations are members, was agreed upon..