Impact of displacement on the psychological wellbeing of refugee children

The war-related stress had a negative impact on the psychological well-being of all children in Croatia, but displaced and refugee children were especially affected. Although refugee children showed impressive resilience, particular attention should be devoted to children who had traumatic experiences immediately prior to displacement. These children either lived without their parents or with parents who had poor coping abilities while displaced; lived in families that had accumulated several stressful experiences; or were housed in large collective refugee centers. The children that had poorer coping capacities and lacked a supportive family environment displayed high levels of stress-related symptomatology throughout the entire refugee period, being at special risk for the development of further psychological difficulties. The findings reported in this study are the result of a five-year follow-up of the same group of refugee children. Data about children's coping abilities with displacement were obtained primarily from mothers and the children themselves

Social Contexts of Trauma and Healing

The social contexts in which the mass trauma of thousands of people occur and in which their recovery should progress have qualities that distinguish it in important ways from individualised trauma in which a person is a victim of a violent attack, rape or a traffic accident. Organised violence, such as wars, oppression by dictatorships and massive terrorist attacks are extreme cases in which hundreds or thousands of people are exposed to trauma in a short period of time. As such, it has multiple consequences that extend beyond the affected individuals and the symptoms they suffer. Although the symptoms may be similar, the social contexts in which individual victimisation and exposure to organised violence happen are very different. The social milieu in which the survivors of individual trauma and survivors of mass trauma are embedded is likewise different, with important consequences for recovery. Understanding the social context of the trauma helps create the right social intervention for healing at social and personal levels

Development of evaluation indicators in psychosocial projects: balance between a creative challenge and research rigor

Evaluation of psychosocial and community oriented projects includes a series of procedures to determine if project outcomes are achieved by an activity planned to help reach an individual or socially relevant goal. Typically, various stakeholders have an interest in evaluation of psychosocial projects. These may include project staff and manager, donors, authorities, beneficiaries and the community. Sometimes their interest in evaluation seems to be in conflict, but clarification of interests can lead to complementary positions. Evaluation is basically a decision making tool about the future of a project. The basic assumption in evaluation is that it should identify observable or measurable outcomes (consequences, results) that can be used to demonstrate that the project is reaching the goal and objectives. One of the crucial elements in this process are evaluation indicators which need to satisfy several universal criteria, while their specific content and data collection method should reflect the specifics of the project under evaluation

Is there Anything Good about the COVID-19 Pandemic? Perceptions of the Positive Consequences at the Beginning of the Pandemic

The aim of this paper was to investigate the experience of possible positive consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and their connection with indicators of mental health and well-being, and to identify themes by which people describe the positive consequences of the pandemic. As part of a broader longitudinal project, participants completed a comprehensive online survey on various aspects of the pandemic. This paper presents the results obtained from 1,201 adult participants (50.1% women) on a quantitative measure of the experienced positive consequences, and on the qualitative answers to an open question about the positive aspects of the pandemic. The quantitative measure was created for the purposes of this research. Measures of sociodemographic factors, mental health (DASS-21) and well-being (WHO-5) were also used. The results show that participants experience positive consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic through three factors: Awareness of life values, More time for oneself, and New job opportunities. Awareness of life values was ranked as the most important, then More time for oneself, and finally New job opportunities. Participants who were more aware of these three aspects of the positive effects of COVID-19 also showed significantly greater subjective well-being and resilience, while associations with depression, anxiety, and stress were negligible or low. Women were more aware of changes in their life values than men, while men had a greater experience of new job opportunities. The results of the qualitative responses show that 83.4% of participants recognised some form of positive consequences of the pandemic on their lives, on the lives of other people, and on society. Analyses revealed seven themes: better family relationships, reflection and personal growth, social well-being, digitalisation of work and education, improved personal life, environmental effects, and competent pandemic management. Together, the results point to the importance of thinking about and exploring positive consequences of crisis events in the context of individual resilience and well-being

Family violence: What health workers can do

Nasilje u obitelji je skup ponašanja čiji je cilj kontrola nad članovima obiteljske zajednice uporabom sile, zastrašivanja i manipuliranja. Oblici nasilja su psihičko, fizičko, seksualno i ekonomsko. Najčešće žrtve nasilja su djeca, žene, starije osobe i osobe s posebnim potrebama. Zdravstveni djelatnici mogu imati ključnu ulogu u ranom prepoznavanju i prevenciji nasilja u obitelji jer su oni jedini stručnjaci s kojima svi ljudi kontaktiraju tijekom života i koji mogu stvoriti povjerljivo okruženje za razgovor. Žrtve redovito umanjuju i prikrivaju obiteljsko nasilje u strahu da će njihova sigurnost biti još više ugrožena ako se nekome povjere, zbog srama što žive u takvoj obitelji i zbog specifične dinamike nasilnog odnosa koji žrtvu čini bespomoćnom i lojalnom nasilniku. Liječnici i sestre nerado započinju razgovor o problemu nasilja u obitelji, a samo oko četvrtina žena žrtava tjelesnog nasilja o tome razgovara s obiteljskim liječnikom, uglavnom zato što ih liječnik o tome nije pitao. Stoga je bitno da su zdravstveni djelatnici osposobljeni prepoznati znakove nasilja, da znaju što učiniti s takvom osobom i da su spremni pomoći da se nasilje zaustavi. Zakonska je obveza zdravstvenih djelatnika prijaviti nasilje u obitelji policiji i državnom odvjetništvu. To je u skladu s etičkim načelima struke jer uzrok tegoba bolesnika treba prepoznati i onda kada je nemedicinske naravi; zdravstveni djelatnici svojom intervencijom pomažu žrtvi da izbjegne i smanji svoju izloženost nasilju, što dovodi do smanjenja štetnih zdravstvenih posljedica, a može sačuvati ljudski život i zdravlje jer se nasilje u obitelji ponavlja i eskalira.Family violence is a set of behaviors aimed to control family members by force, intimidation and manipulation. Different forms of violence and abuse are psychological, physical, sexual and economic. Most common victims are children, women, elderly and people with special needs. Health workers have a major role in early recognition and prevention of family violence because they are the professionals with who most people get in contact during their life time and who have an opportunity to create a confidential environment. The victims typically deny family violence because they fear their safety may be compromised, feel shame of having a violent family, and due to the specific dynamics of violent relationship that leaves the victim powerless and loyal to the perpetrator. Physicians and nurses often hesitate to discuss the family violence with their patients, so that only about one quarter of female victims of physical violence talk about it with their general practitioner, mostly because the physician did not ask about it. Therefore it is important to increase the capacity of health workers to recognize the signs of violence, know what to do and become willing to help stop the violence. They are legally mandated to report family violence cases to police and public prosecutor. This is consistent with the professional ethnic since the patients’ complaints need to be investigated even when they are of non-medical nature, health workers can help a victim avoid and decrease exposure to violence, thus contributing to decrease in poor health outcomes, and they can help save lives and health because family violence recurs and escalates

Attitude patterns in students about AIDS associated problems

U okviru šireg istraživačkog programa na sedam studijskih grupa Sveučilišta u Zagrebu (N = 1090) provedeno jc anonimno i dobrovoljno ispitivanje stavova studenata prema načinu preveneije i rješavanja problema izazvanih bolešću AIDS s ciljem utvrđivanja latentne strukture stavova te nekih njihovih determinanti odnosno korelat. Latentna struktura može se objasniti dvjema relativno nezavisnim dimenzijama liberalnog i restriktivnog pristupa ovom problemu. TO znači da se u okviru istog stava moga priznavati sva prava oboljelima od AIDS-a i osuđivati njihova stigmatizacija, ali i priznavati pravo društvu da sprečava širenje ove bolesti ograničavajući pritom individualna prava oboljelih. Studenti imaju umjereno liberalan stav, a razlike medu njima povezane su s njihovom dobi, budućim profesionalnim pozivom, neposrednim iskustvom s rizičnim skupinama homoseksualaca i narkomana i s vrstom izvora informiranja o AIDS-u. Ove spoznaje mogu se iskoristiti za koncipiranje programa profesionalnog pripremanja studenata za suočavanje s okolnostima koje AIDS donosi.As part of a major research project investigating the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour relevant to AIDS an elaborate questionnaire was administered to seven groups of students from the University of Zagreb (N = 1090). The questionnaire was answered anonymously and voluntarily. A section of the instrument assessed attitudes toward the means of handling AIDS associated problems in order to determine their latent structure, as well as some of their determinants and correlates. Attitude pattern canonly be sufficiently explained by two relatively independent dimensions described as the liberal and conservative approach to handling AIDS problems. This implies that within same attitudinal response individual rights of an AIDS patient may be acknowledged as well as the society right to restrict some individual rights in order to stop the spreading of the disease. The students exhibited moderately liberal attitudes, while the differences among them are related to variables such as age, future profession, personal experience with members of high risk groups of homosexuals and drug users, and sources of information about AIDS. Implications for structuring AIDS prevention campaigns aimed at different professions are stressed

Family violence: What health workers can do

Nasilje u obitelji je skup ponašanja čiji je cilj kontrola nad članovima obiteljske zajednice uporabom sile, zastrašivanja i manipuliranja. Oblici nasilja su psihičko, fizičko, seksualno i ekonomsko. Najčešće žrtve nasilja su djeca, žene, starije osobe i osobe s posebnim potrebama. Zdravstveni djelatnici mogu imati ključnu ulogu u ranom prepoznavanju i prevenciji nasilja u obitelji jer su oni jedini stručnjaci s kojima svi ljudi kontaktiraju tijekom života i koji mogu stvoriti povjerljivo okruženje za razgovor. Žrtve redovito umanjuju i prikrivaju obiteljsko nasilje u strahu da će njihova sigurnost biti još više ugrožena ako se nekome povjere, zbog srama što žive u takvoj obitelji i zbog specifične dinamike nasilnog odnosa koji žrtvu čini bespomoćnom i lojalnom nasilniku. Liječnici i sestre nerado započinju razgovor o problemu nasilja u obitelji, a samo oko četvrtina žena žrtava tjelesnog nasilja o tome razgovara s obiteljskim liječnikom, uglavnom zato što ih liječnik o tome nije pitao. Stoga je bitno da su zdravstveni djelatnici osposobljeni prepoznati znakove nasilja, da znaju što učiniti s takvom osobom i da su spremni pomoći da se nasilje zaustavi. Zakonska je obveza zdravstvenih djelatnika prijaviti nasilje u obitelji policiji i državnom odvjetništvu. To je u skladu s etičkim načelima struke jer uzrok tegoba bolesnika treba prepoznati i onda kada je nemedicinske naravi; zdravstveni djelatnici svojom intervencijom pomažu žrtvi da izbjegne i smanji svoju izloženost nasilju, što dovodi do smanjenja štetnih zdravstvenih posljedica, a može sačuvati ljudski život i zdravlje jer se nasilje u obitelji ponavlja i eskalira.Family violence is a set of behaviors aimed to control family members by force, intimidation and manipulation. Different forms of violence and abuse are psychological, physical, sexual and economic. Most common victims are children, women, elderly and people with special needs. Health workers have a major role in early recognition and prevention of family violence because they are the professionals with who most people get in contact during their life time and who have an opportunity to create a confidential environment. The victims typically deny family violence because they fear their safety may be compromised, feel shame of having a violent family, and due to the specific dynamics of violent relationship that leaves the victim powerless and loyal to the perpetrator. Physicians and nurses often hesitate to discuss the family violence with their patients, so that only about one quarter of female victims of physical violence talk about it with their general practitioner, mostly because the physician did not ask about it. Therefore it is important to increase the capacity of health workers to recognize the signs of violence, know what to do and become willing to help stop the violence. They are legally mandated to report family violence cases to police and public prosecutor. This is consistent with the professional ethnic since the patients’ complaints need to be investigated even when they are of non-medical nature, health workers can help a victim avoid and decrease exposure to violence, thus contributing to decrease in poor health outcomes, and they can help save lives and health because family violence recurs and escalates