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- Santalahti, Päivi, et al.
(författare)
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Supporting health care professionals who are asylum seekers or refugees in starting their licensing process in Finland
- 2016
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Earlier research and reports have described the problems of integrating non-EU/EEA health care professionals into the Finnish labor market. Problems identified include a lack of guidance on the licensing process,a lack of skills and support in Finnish/Swedish language in general and in professional language, a lack of established preparatory courses, difficulties in accessing training places, and a lack of coordinated cooperation between authorities, health care and professional trade unions. In this report, we focus on how to support health care professionals who are asylum seekers or refugees in starting their journey towards licensing. We summarize the findings of a literature search, a survey on the numbers of health care professionals who are asylum seekers in Finland and our own experiences of arranging a series of seminars for health care professionals who were asylum seekers or refugees. Health care professionals who are asylum seekers or refugees were scattered all over Finland and many are in very remote places. Asylum seekers / refugees entering a country are in a completely new situation, both concretely and psychologically. Many cornerstones of life are left behind and the future is unpredictable. Getting an overview of the steps needed to obtain the right to practice one’s profession in a new country brings hope and structure, even if the journey to a full license is long. A transparent system and easily accessible and welcoming information help asylum seekers and refugees to start the journey towards licensing efficiently. If located near each other, asylum seekers who are health care professionals can support each other, share information, and have easier access to already existing meetings, seminars and courses. A short introductory course offered as soon as possible after entering the country and welcoming web pages that would offer centralized information would be helpful. Detailed information should be given on how to obtain a training place, how to find hospitals and health centers, and whom to contact. All TE-services that have health care professional as clients should also receive concise information about the licensing process of health care professionals and the steps needed to start the process. Having a voluntary collegial mentoring system would be beneficial and speed up integration and help to avoid many problems. Many health care professionals who were asylum seekers or refugees were active not only in promoting their own situation but also in sharing information actively with their colleagues. Many Finnish colleagues and experts were ready to help and share their expertise when asked. The aim is not to make the requirements for professionals to work in Finnish health care any less strict, but to help newcomers to use their capacity to the fullest from the moment they enter the country.
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- Volanen, Salla-Maarit, et al.
(författare)
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Healthy Learning Mind - a school-based mindfulness and relaxation program : a study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial
- 2016
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Ingår i: BMC Psychology. - : BioMed Central. - 2050-7283. ; 4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Mindfulness has shown positive effects on mental health, mental capacity and well-being among adult population. Among children and adolescents, previous research on the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions on health and well-being has shown promising results, but studies with methodologically sound designs have been called for. Few intervention studies in this population have compared the effectiveness of mindfulness programs to alternative intervention programs with adequate sample sizes.METHODS/DESIGN: Our primary aim is to explore the effectiveness of a school-based mindfulness intervention program compared to a standard relaxation program among a non-clinical children and adolescent sample, and a non-treatment control group in school context. In this study, we systematically examine the effects of mindfulness intervention on mental well-being (primary outcomes being resilience; existence/absence of depressive symptoms; experienced psychological strengths and difficulties), cognitive functions, psychophysiological responses, academic achievements, and motivational determinants of practicing mindfulness. The design is a cluster randomized controlled trial with three arms (mindfulness intervention group, active control group, non-treatment group) and the sample includes 59 Finnish schools and approx. 3 000 students aged 12-15 years. Intervention consists of nine mindfulness based lessons, 45 mins per week, for 9 weeks, the dose being identical in active control group receiving standard relaxation program called Relax. The programs are delivered by 14 educated facilitators. Students, their teachers and parents will fill-in the research questionnaires before and after the intervention, and they will all be followed up 6 months after baseline. Additionally, students will be followed 12 months after baseline. For longer follow-up, consent to linking the data to the main health registers has been asked from students and their parents.DISCUSSION: The present study examines systematically the effectiveness of a school-based mindfulness program compared to a standard relaxation program, and a non-treatment control group. A strength of the current study lies in its methodologically rigorous, randomized controlled study design, which allows novel evidence on the effectiveness of mindfulness over and above a standard relaxation program.TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN18642659 . Retrospectively registered 13 October 2015.
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- Volanen, Salla-Maarit, et al.
(författare)
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Healthy learning mind – Effectiveness of a mindfulness program on mental health compared to a relaxation program and teaching as usual in schools : A cluster-randomised controlled trial
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Affective Disorders. - : Elsevier. - 0165-0327 .- 1573-2517. ; 260, s. 660-669
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBIs) have shown promising effects on mental health among children and adolescents, but high-quality studies examining the topic are lacking. The present study assessed the effects of MBI on mental health in school-setting in an extensive randomised controlled trial. Methods: Finnish school children and adolescents (N = 3519), aged 12–15 years (6th to 8th graders), from 56 schools were randomized into a 9 week MBI group, and control groups with a relaxation program or teaching as usual. The primary outcomes were resilience, socio-emotional functioning, and depressive symptoms at baseline, at completion of the programs at 9 weeks (T9), and at follow-up at 26 weeks (T26). Results: Overall, mindfulness did not show more beneficial effects on the primary outcomes compared to the controls except for resilience for which a positive intervention effect was found at T9 in all participants (β=1.18, SE 0.57, p = 0.04) as compared to the relaxation group. In addition, in gender and grade related analyses, MBI lowered depressive symptoms in girls at T26 (β=−0.49, SE 0.21, p = 0.02) and improved socio-emotional functioning at T9 (β=−1.37, SE 0.69, p = 0.049) and at T26 (β=−1.71, SE 0.73, p = 0.02) among 7th graders as compared to relaxation. Limitations: The inactive control group was smaller than the intervention and active control groups, reducing statistical power. Conclusions: A short 9-week MBI in school-setting provides slight benefits over a relaxation program and teaching as usual. Future research should investigate whether embedding regular mindfulness-based practice in curriculums could intensify the effects.
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