Search

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Mental health is deteriorated during the quarantine period. Mental health status is affected by the quarantine even after the end of it and for an extended period. WHAT THE PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: Depression levels among nursing/midwifery students during the quarantine period are high. Depression levels among students' family members during the quarantine period are high. Those who are not satisfied with COVID-19 prevention measures and those who believe that COVID-19 and quarantine can cause problems on health, have elevated levels of depression. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Provision of mental health services during the quarantine period should be a priority for the healthcare system. Offering mental health first aid training and support can improve the mental health status of students and their family members. ABSTRACT: Introduction The use of quarantine method has a significant impact on mental health status. Aim This study aimed to assess the levels of depression among bachelor and master university students (nurses/midwives) and their family members' during the quarantine period of COVID-19 pandemic. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted in Vlora University, Albania. Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was used. Institutional e-mails of all active students were used for their recruitment. Results In total, 863 students and 249 family members participated in the study. The mean PHQ-9 score was 6.220 (SD = 5.803) and 6.280 (SD = 5.857) for students and family members, respectively. Being unsatisfied with COVID-19 prevention measures, beliefs that COVID-19 infection and quarantine process can cause problems on their health status were the key factors for students to be screened positive for mental problems in multiple regression analysis. For parents, the last two factors were found to contribute significantly. Discussion Our findings indicate that quarantine measures have a significant impact on the levels of depression among both university students and their family members. Broader population studies are necessary to safeguard these results. Implications for Practice Provision of mental health services during the quarantine period is of paramount significance. Mental health first aid training and support could benefit both students and their parents significantly. Additionally, follow-up services after the end of quarantine are recommended., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Healthcare staff that operated at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19 hence faced enormous physical and mental pressures. We aim to investigate the mental health situation among physicians and other medical employees in Albania. A cross sectional and descriptive survey was conducted from September 2020 to January 2021 time when COVID-19 in Albania was at its peak. Χ²/Fisher exact test was used; a significant association between level of mental health and survey characteristics was made. P-value<0.05, while medical employees who work in Tirana had a higher significant score than those living in other regions p<0.05. Nurses and medical doctors were significantly more likely to report depressive symptoms compared to other medical employees χ²=85.2, 95% CI, a p-value of ˂0.05 than radiologists, stemmatologists, and pharmacists. Furthermore, the younger age groups ≤ 40 years and >55 were more prone to report likely fair, stress, and depressive symptoms compared to other ages (p-value=0.042). This study reports a high level of fair and stress and mild to moderate burdens of depression and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, studies with a large sample size to include all medical staff nationwide need to identify and evaluate mental health among medical staff in Albania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School psychological service is one of the most important changes that has taken place in Albania in the last 10 years. During the pandemic period their psychological service took on another dimension and their workflow increased a lot. Closing schools due to the pandemic would change their lifestyles. Most countries around the world turned their attention to physical health care. Many studies have been conducted to measure the economic consequences, but very few studies have been conducted to measure the psychological consequences of the pandemic and especially the consequences that this period caused on the mental health of children. The study addressed the quality of evaluation and improvement of the psychological service in the school during the pandemic. The purpose of the study is to identify the work done by school psychologists, and their forms of intervention in mitigating the psychological effects of the pandemic. We used a mixed-method approach for the study. About 63 school psychologists from different schools in Albania were asked about the typology of work they performed during the pandemic period and the number of cases treated by them. An online questionnaire for school psychologists and interviews with school principals were used as an instrument to collect data on the role of psychologists in the pandemic. To analyze the data collected from the questionnaire we used SPSS statistics. The service that school psychologists have performed the most in the period of the pandemic is the assessment of the psychological state of the students (62.9%). Psychologists responded that the most common symptoms caused by the pandemic in students were anxiety and stress (66.1%) and that students who received psychological services during and after the pandemic were calmer, allowing them to integrate into normal life and perceive the pandemic as a situation they would coexist with. In conclusion, this study identified the need to provide psychological service at a higher frequency, the use of new methods, different types of meditations, reiki sound therapy, and all methods that strengthen and encourage a higher self-confidence, the promotion of positive energy in all target groups mentioned. Building collaboration with parent-teacher-psychologist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Collegium Antropologicum is the property of Croatian Anthropological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Understanding predictors of successful ageing is essential to policy development promoting quality-of-life of an ageing population. Initial models precluded successful ageing in the presence of chronic disease/functional disability; however, this is discrepant with self-reported successful ageing. Indicators of social, psychological and physical health in 1,735 people aged 65–74, living in Canada, Columbia, Brazil or Albania, were analysed in the International Mobility in Ageing Study. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the change in self-rated successful ageing in relation to physical health, depression, social connectedness, resilience and site, while controlling for age, gender and income sufficiency. Sixty-five per cent of participants self-rated as ageing successfully; however, this was significantly different across sites (p < 0.0005, range 17–85%) and gender (p = 0.019). Using objective measures, 6 per cent were classified as 'successful', with significant variability amongst sites (p < 0.0005, range 0–12%). Subjective successful ageing was associated with fewer (not absence of) chronic diseases, absence of depression and less dysfunction in activities of daily living, but not with objective measures of physical dysfunction. Social connectedness and resilience also aligned with self-rated successful ageing. Traditional definitions of objective successful ageing are likely too restrictive, and thus, do not approximate self-rated successful ageing. International differences suggest that site could be a surrogate for variables other than physical/mental health and social engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Drawing on the Stress Process Model, this study examines cancer caregiving in Albania. We used conditional process analysis to test the relationship between psychological distress and quality of life through social support and to examine whether gender moderates pathways in this mediation model.Methods: Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a non-probability sample of 377 caregivers from the public oncology service. Standardized measures were selected based on psychometric properties and cross-cultural adequacy; all had good internal consistency.Results: Participants reported high levels of psychological distress, moderate social support, and poor quality of life. Compared with men, women had higher levels of distress, worse quality of life, and comparable levels of support. Men were more likely to be caring for a spouse and to rely on friends, while women also cared for others and relied more on family. Social support mediated a strong negative relationship between psychological distress and QoL. These pathways did not differ by gender.Conclusions: Cancer is increasing rapidly in developing countries, where family caregiving is the preferred and often only option for long-term, intensive care. This study points to high risks for psychological distress and reduced quality of life, especially for female caregivers in Albania. Findings further highlight the importance of social supports an as avenue for prevention and intervention to improve quality of life for both men and women. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate all the potential routes to Child/Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic-University Hospital Center (CAPC-UHC) in Tirana. The article provides demographic data, as well as further information on the types and amounts of services children/adolescents received during the process of seeking help related to different diagnoses . Method: The study was conducted in CAPC-UHC in Tirana, during September 2006-September 2007. Data were collected from 162 children and their parents using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and Pathways Encounter Form. The sample consisted of 53.1% (86) males and 46.9% (76) females. The mean age was 9.5 + 4.4 years . Results: Out of the total number of cases that sought care to CAPC; 55, 6% were referred by parents themselves, while the rest were referred by others. There was a significant effect of gender to intervals from the onset of problem to the first career (F = 10.803, p=0.001), as well as a significant effect of gender to total time intervals from the onset till the specialist of child mental health problem (F = 6.742, p=0.01). Conclusions: This is the first study investigating the help seeking process to psychiatric care in CAPC Tirana-Albania and may serve as a good start in generating evidence based on child/adolescent mental health service. Further multicentre studies will enhance the values of the findings, since the present study was performed in a single service, and in a setting lacking previous works with similar scope that could have served as references. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]