Abstract

In the context of the celebration of the World Health Days, a painting event was created under the auspices of the University Hospital of Larissa. For the event, artworks were gathered from undergraduate students of all around Greece, dedicated to a World Health Day of their choice. The works were collected and demonstrated at the Cultural Center of the University Hospital of Larissa. Undergraduate students designed a questionnaire with 12 items to capture the impact of both the event and global days in general. During the event, they were distributed to the attendees, while an electronic form was created and notified on web platforms with photographs of the artworks for wider dissemination of the event. Four months later, a total of 209 questionnaires were collected in both formats, and the results were analyzed. The 57.42% were women whereas 42.58% male respondents. The age range was 12-71 years in which the majority was represented by young students and in particular medical ones. The global blood donor day appears to have influenced the most, since approximately 30 out of 209 voted it in most questions. Among medical students, the most preferred day was about children’s rights, with one out of 21 voting it. Finally, 8 out of 10 responded positively to the existence and purpose of the institution of the world days and 9 out of 10 to the event. Consequently, many people seem to have been influenced by the event. Therefore, it was considered of satisfying success.

Keywords: World days; Painting exhibition; Public health; Social medicine