The Phenomenon of Social and Pastoral Service in Eastern Slovakia and Northwestern Czech Republic during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison of Two Selected Units of Former Czechoslovakia in the Context of the Perspective of Positive Solutions Maturkanič, Patrik García Martín, José Social and pastoral service Religious affiliation Pandemic situation This research was funded by Scientific Grant Agency VEGA project No 1/0880/21 "Transformation of the Nitra Region in Changing Socioeconomic Conditions with Special Focus to the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemics" and with the support of International Scientific Research Project: Pastoral practice, psychology and philosophical-theological-social fragments in the light of the 21st century (contract number: 010-2021). Cooperation among: Sociedad Hispanica de Amigos de Kierkegaard (Spain) and College of Applied Psychology in Terezin (Czech Republic), 2021-2022. This study seeks to explain the differences in the perception of social and pastoral service after the first and second wave pandemic in 2020 among the inhabitants of two neighbouring states, both parts of the former unified Czechoslovakia. Our research study compares subjective perception, needs, and participation among inhabitants of eastern Slovakia and north-western Czech Republic in social and pastoral service during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research sample consisted of a healthy population from the Czech Republic (n = 496) and Slovakia (n = 484) over 16 years of age, of which 63% (n = 617) were women and 37% (n = 363) men. The level of education ranged from primary to postgraduate. The research sample consisted of 623 (63.6%) participants with religious affiliation and 357 (36.4%) without religion. The level of perception, needs, and participation of the participants in social and pastoral service was obtained based on a non-standardised questionnaire. The results of our study confirmed several differences in the areas studied. 2022-03-28T07:48:59Z 2022-03-28T07:48:59Z 2022-02-21 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Maturkanicˇ, P... [et al.]. The Phenomenon of Social and Pastoral Service in Eastern Slovakia and Northwestern Czech Republic during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparison of Two Selected Units of Former Czechoslovakia in the Context of the Perspective of Positive Solutions. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 2480. [https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19042480] http://hdl.handle.net/10481/73810 10.3390/ijerph19042480 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI