Validity and reliability study of the Turkish version of the Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale.

AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of the Salutogenic Health Indicator Scale (SHIS) among a sample of Turkish university students. METHODS: This study was conducted with 291 university students. The SHIS was evaluated in terms of language equivalence, validity and the reliability. Content validity was assessed with the content validity index (CVI). Construct validity was determined by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficient was used for the analysis of internal consistency, a Pearson's correlation coefficient was used for parallel form reliability, and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used for the test-retest technique. RESULTS: The CVI of the SHIS was between 0.80 and 1.00. When the results of the CFA were examined, the factor loadings of all items were above 0.50. A statistically significant moderate positive correlation was found between the SHIS and the Sense of Coherence (SOC) scores for parallel form reliability (r = 0.489). Within the scope of the test-retest analysis, an ICC = 0.762 was determined (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The findings obtained from this validity and reliability study carried out on a sample of Turkish university students showed that the SHIS was both valid and reliable.

A retrospective examination of the content of violence in headlines of news related to individuals with mental disorders.

BACKGROUND: Headlines are usually read first. Since headlines are designed to be remarkable and memorable in terms of form and meaning, their impact on the positive or negative attitudes of the society towards individuals with mental illness may be greater than the news texts. AIMS: This study aimed to retrospectively examine and analyze the content of violence headlines related to people with mental disorders. METHOD: The study was designed to examine headlines retrospectively. Six-hundred-ten headlines on the websites of four nationally published newspapers in Turkey were reviewed. Headlines mentioned people with mental disorders and violent events. The News Headline Review Form was used to evaluate the headlines. Descriptive statistics, the chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were used in data analysis. RESULTS: It was determined that violent events in headlines were mostly associated with homicidal behaviors (72%; n = 439), self-harming behaviors (20.2%; n = 123) and exploitation by others (7.8%; n = 40), respectively. The most common actions in headlines were, within the homicidal behaviors, "murder" (30.4%; n = 186); within the self-harming behaviors, "commit suicide" (13.6%; n = 83) and within the exploitation-by-others category, "being murdered" (4.4%; n = 27). People with mental disorders were in an active position in three fourths of the headlines on violence/aggression (77.3%; n = 471). CONCLUSION: Headlines have the effect of normalizing the relationship between violence and mental disorders, which already exists in society. Portraying violence as a typical part of a mental disorder could create social perceptions that it is the nature of these individuals to exhibit violent behavior.

The effect of salutogenic approach-based interviews on sense of coherence and resilience in people with schizophrenia: A randomized controlled trial.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of interviews based on a salutogenic approach on the sense of coherence and resilience in schizophrenic patients. DESIGN AND METHODS: A pretest-posttest randomized controlled experimental trial was conducted with 49 patients. FINDINGS: The posttest and follow-up mean scores of the subscales and the overall scale of sense of coherence and resilience differed in favor of the intervention group (p < 0.01). In the intra-group comparison, the pretest, posttest, and 1-month follow-up all the subscales and the total mean scores of the sense of coherence and resilience differed in the intervention group (p < 0.001). PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The salutogenic approach-based interview is an effective intervention to increase the sense of coherence and resilience.

Qualitative examination of the attitudes of healthcare workers in Turkey regarding COVID-19 vaccines.

PURPOSE: The attitudes of healthcare workers toward COVID-19 vaccines ensure that health services are able to run without interruption and potentially have a role in the messaging about vaccination that they convey to the public. Hence, healthcare workers' attitudes ultimately have a significant role in controlling the pandemic. This study aimed to qualitatively investigate the attitudes of healthcare workers in Turkey in relation to COVID-19 vaccines. METHODS: The study used the phenomenological approach. The sample consisted of 36 healthcare workers who were employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected online using focus group interviews. A total of four focus group interviews were conducted. FINDINGS: Following analysis of the data, the attitudes of healthcare workers in Turkey toward the COVID-19 vaccine were divided into three themes: "influencing factors," "priority group" and "trust." CONCLUSIONS: Vaccination was found to create negative emotions among some of the healthcare workers. Their opinions about the COVID-19 vaccines were affected by the negative emotions and burnout they experienced during the pandemic. In addition, they saw the vaccination process as impacted by contraindications and uncertainty about the duration of the protection, the balance of the benefits and harm of the vaccines, and by vaccine myths and prejudices about the country where the vaccine was developed. Healthcare professionals expressed the need for trust to be established in the whole vaccination process. They suggested that different vaccine options should be offered, that the appointment and process notification system for vaccination should be improved, that evidence-based information about vaccines should be provided and that a safe environment should be created. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Vaccine hesitancy can be addressed by careful attention to the application of vaccination programs, correct and effective use of social media, transparent, and precise management of political processes, and the provision of evidence-based information about the vaccines.

Knowledge and practices of nurses working in psychiatry clinics on ventrogluteal injection.

PURPOSE: To determine the knowledge and practices of nurses working in psychiatry clinics on the ventrogluteal (VG) injection. DESIGN AND METHODS: This study was conducted as a descriptive and cross-sectional study. A total of 91 nurses constituted the sample of the study. FINDINGS: It was determined that 35.7% of the nurses preferred the VG site. It was determined that the nurses who preferred the VG site knew and applied the preparation for injection, and the stages during and after the injection. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: This study will guide the preparation of in-service training programs on the use of VG site in psychiatric clinics.

Experiences and psychosocial problems of nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Turkey: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Nurses, who are playing an important role during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, are exposed to a range of psychosocial stressors due to unforeseen risks. OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study is to determine the experiences and psychosocial problems of nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Turkey. SETTINGS: The data were collected between 9 May and 12 May 2020, in Istanbul, Turkey. PARTICIPANTS: The study sample consisted of 10 nurses, who cared for patients diagnosed with COVID-19. METHODS: The research employed the descriptive phenomenological approach. The interviews were conducted face-to-face via the internet and were analysed with Colaizzi's seven-step method. RESULTS: The experiences and psychosocial problems among nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 were categorised under three themes, which were further divided into subcategories. The theme of the effects of the outbreak was divided into working conditions, psychological effects and social effects; the theme of short-term coping strategies was divided into normalisation, refusal to dwell on experiences, avoidance, expression of emotions and distraction; and the theme of necessities was divided into psychosocial support and resource management. CONCLUSION: The nurses caring for patients diagnosed with COVID-19 in Turkey were adversely affected, both psychologically and socially, by the pandemic; they used short-term coping strategies, and they needed psychosocial support and resource management. They also faced stigmatising attitudes and experiencing burnout and were at risk for secondary traumas due to witnessing disease and death.

Turkish newspaper articles mentioning people with mental illness: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Because a great majority of the public knows about mental disorders primarily through printed or visual media, the attitudes exhibited in mass media might be predictive in stigmatizing individuals with mental disorders. AIM: The aim of this study was to retrospectively assess the articles in Turkish newspapers that mention individuals with mental disorders. METHOD: This study was designed to retrospectively investigate and analyze newspaper content in Turkey; the newspapers' circulation information was collected by examining the websites of the four newspapers with above 1% of the total circulation. The News Evaluation Form was used to evaluate a sampling of articles that met the inclusion criteria of having appeared in the lifestyle and agenda pages of newspapers, and of using neutral or negative labeling keywords about psychiatric patients. RESULTS: Almost all the articles reviewed were negative toward individuals with mental disorders. Three quarters of the reports were forensic, among which two thirds of the individuals with mental disorders were criminalized, and one third were victims of crime. In approximately half of the news reports, most images were related to the news and were not protected. Although not all the articles contain stigmatizing elements directed toward people with mental disorders, two thirds of the subjects' images in the news were found to have stigmatizing elements. CONCLUSION: Media has an impact on attitudes toward people with mental disorders mostly negatively along with individual experiences and peer interactions.