Euthanasia Education for Health Professionals in Turkey: students change their opinions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of euthanasia education on the opinions of health sciences students. It was performed among 111 final year students at the College of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylül University, IRzmir, Turkey. These students train to become paramedical professionals and health technicians. Fifteen hours of educational training concerning ethical values and euthanasia was planned and the students’ opinions about euthanasia were sought before and after the course. Statistical analyses of the data were performed with the related samples t -test by means of the Epi-Info program. Significant changes were shown in the students’ opinions on people’s right to decide about their own life, euthanasia in unconscious patients, and reasons for their objection to euthanasia after completing the course. The results of this study suggest that education can significantly change a person’s approach to euthanasia.

Training unemployed women for adult day care in Izmir, Turkey: a program evaluation

The proportion of older people in Turkey is increasing steadily with a subsequent growth of long-term care (LTC) needs. There is a scarcity of formal care provisions for residential and particularly nonresidential settings. Thus, formal caregiving is not meeting LTC needs nor attracting workers as a labor option. The authors examine the hypothesis that LTC may offer work opportunities for women unfamiliar with caregiving as an occupation, and also examine the need and acceptance of different types of LTC beyond residential care. The authors evaluate an innovative project introducing these two elements to 76 women in İzmir, Turkey, using an analysis framework that incorporates factors related to applications and progression; management assessment; trainees' self-assessment reflecting on their views on aging; and older people's perception of the experience and its impact on their well-being. Trainees reported a major positive shift in their attitudes toward working in LTC and toward the aging process. Users reported discovering a new dimension to care, which directly affected their quality of life. Overall, this community-based initiative appeared effective in enhancing the awareness of the concept of adult day centers providing a social model of care, and appears promising in addressing the growing need for formal LTC in Turkey.