Poboljanim

Poboljanim is a term used in some South Slavic languages to refer to people who are recovering from illness. It is an informal or semi-formal expression that describes individuals in the convalescent phase and who may still require medical or social support. The term is encountered in patient narratives, media reporting on health care, and online discussions about recovery.

The word is formed from elements tied to illness and change of state, and it receives inflection like other adjectives or participles in these languages. Because dialectal and register variation exists, poboljanim is not standardized in medical terminology, and its exact form can differ depending on the language variant and sentence structure.

Usage notes: poboljanim emphasizes the transition from sickness to improved health rather than the active disease itself. It is often used to draw attention to the needs of recovering individuals, such as access to support services, rehabilitation, or workplace reintegration. In formal health communications, more canonical terms like convalescent or recovered patients are typically preferred.

See also: convalescence, convalescent, recuperation, health terminology in South Slavic languages.