Salutogenic interventions and health effects: a scoping review of the literature

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.

Effect of music breathing, a program based on mindful breathing and music listening therapy for promoting sense of coherence in young people: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

The negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health have affected people socially, psychologically, and physically. Young people particularly are having to adjust many aspects of their personal lives: including transitions to work, college, and independent living. Personal resources are important in mitigating stress and improve mental well-being during pandemic. Sense of coherence-an orientation to life-could be considered as a personal resource. Currently, a number of interventions have been developed to target the reduction of stress in young people. Little emphasis has been placed on developing sense of coherence to reduce stress and promote mental well-being among young people. Young people consider music as a preferred leisure activity and an important means of stress relief in their daily lives. However, little research concerning music therapy and sense of coherence exists.

METHODS

In the proposed randomized controlled trial, a sample of 290 young people (aged 18-30) will be recruited and allocated randomly into one of two groups: the experimental group and the control group. Participants in the experimental group will participate in a 6-week Music Breathing program that will include music listening and mindful breathing guided by a certified music therapist. Participants in the control group will receive a control condition for 6 weeks Mental Health Education Programme. The primary outcome of the study will be measured using Sense of Coherence Scale. The secondary outcomes will be measured using the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, BBC Subjective Well-being scale, and salivary cortisol levels. Repeated measures analysis will be used to compare the outcomes between the two groups.

DISCUSSION

The results will inform practice in coping with stress through promoting sense of coherence. Individuals will benefit from the long-term effect of this intervention to enhance their sense of coherence to cope with stressful events and promote better mental well-being.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05655234. Registered on December 8, 2022.

[The new program of the Family and Community Medicine specialty: An opportunity not to be missed]

The training program for the Family and Community Medicine specialty (MFyC), which has been in effect since 2005, is currently undergoing a review and update process. This article proposes contributions to deepen the specific contents of the specialty in order to guide towards a more significant competency development. To carry out values-oriented training, it is suggested to deploy the values function and promote the creation of care spaces where the daily experience of those values is possible. It is proposed to establish a scale of values where the two essential values of the family physician are, in this order, a commitment to the individual person, and a commitment to the group of people under their care. Additionally, it is proposed to reorganize the competency map around five competency integrators or meta-competencies: patient-centered clinical method, population-based clinical governance, primary care oriented to the community, health promotion or community health based on assets, and research in the family and community field.

From Deficit to Strength-Based Aboriginal Health Research-Moving toward Flourishing

Aboriginal Australians have a fundamental human right to opportunities that lead to healthy and flourishing lives. While the impact of trauma on Aboriginal Australians is well-documented, a pervasive deficit narrative that focuses on problems and pathology persists in research and policy discourse. This narrative risks further exacerbating Aboriginal disadvantage through a focus on 'fixing what is wrong' with Aboriginal Australians and the internalising of these narratives by Aboriginal Australians. While a growing body of research adopts strength-based models, limited research has sought to explore Aboriginal flourishing. This conceptual paper seeks to contribute to a burgeoning paradigm shift in Aboriginal research, seeking to understand what can be learned from Aboriginal people who flourish, how we best determine this, and in what contexts this can be impactful. Within, we argue the case for a new approach to exploring Aboriginal wellbeing that integrates salutogenic, positive psychology concepts with complex systems theory to understand and promote Aboriginal wellbeing and flourishing. While deeper work may be required to establish the parameters of a strength-based, culturally aligned Aboriginal conceptualisation of positive psychology, we suggest the integration of Aboriginal and Western methodologies offers a unique and potent means of shifting the dial on seemingly intractable problems.

Historical Osteopathic Principles and Practices in Contemporary Care: An Anthropological Perspective to Foster Evidence-Informed and Culturally Sensitive Patient-Centered Care: A Commentary

Historical osteopathic principles and practices (OPP)-considering the patient as a dynamic interaction of the body, mind, and spirit and incorporating the body's self-healing ability into care-are inherited from traditional/complementary and alternative (CAM) principles. Both concepts are familiar to contemporary osteopathic practitioners, but their incorporation into healthcare for evidence-informed, patient-centered care (PCC) remains unclear. Further, a polarity exists in the osteopathic profession between a 'traditional-minded' group following historical OPP despite evidence against those models and an 'evidence-minded' group following the current available evidence for common patient complaints. By shifting professional practices towards evidence-based practices for manual therapy in line with the Western dominant biomedical paradigm, the latter group is challenging the osteopathic professional identity. To alleviate this polarity, we would like to refocus on patient values and expectations, highlighting cultural diversity from an anthropological perspective. Increasing an awareness of diverse sociocultural health assumptions may foster culturally sensitive PCC, especially when including non-Western sociocultural belief systems of health into that person-centered care. Therefore, the current medical anthropological perspective on the legacy of traditional/CAM principles in historical OPP is offered to advance the osteopathic profession by promoting ethical, culturally sensitive, and evidence-informed PCC in a Western secular environment. Such inclusive approaches are likely to meet patients' values and expectations, whether informed by Western or non-Western sociocultural beliefs, and improve their satisfaction and clinical outcomes.

Impact of sense of coherence, resilience and loneliness on quality of life amongst older adults in long-term care: A correlational study using the salutogenic model

AIMS

This study aimed to identify the predicting factors of quality of life (QoL) from a set of psychosocial, sociodemographic and clinical variables amongst older adults in a long-term care setting.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study.

METHOD

The study was conducted in a nursing home and a day care centre from July to December 2019. Two hundred older adults were recruited. Guided by the salutogenic model, the sense of coherence (SOC) scale, Connor-Davidson resilience scale, de Jong Gierveld loneliness scale and World Health Organization quality of life instrument-older adults (WHOQOL-OLD) were used. The sociodemographic and clinical profiles of participants were collected. Descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient, independent-samples t test, one-way analysis of variance and stepwise regression were utilised in the analysis.

RESULTS

The mean score for WHOQOL-OLD was 94.42 ± 19.55. The highest mean score was observed in the "Death and Dying" facet, while the lowest mean scores were reflected in the "Autonomy" and "Intimacy" facets of QoL. Regardless of resident type, most QoL scores were similar across different variables. Based on the stepwise regression, higher manageability and meaningfulness in SOC, higher resilience, lower social loneliness, lower emotional loneliness and hearing impairments are significantly associated with higher QoL.

CONCLUSION

Manageability, meaningfulness and resilience should be enhanced while ameliorating feelings of loneliness to improve the QoL amongst older adults receiving long-term care. Age, marital status, educational level, care arrangement, body mass index, performance in activities of daily living, comorbidities and hearing and mobility impairments could influence QoL and thus warrant more attention.

IMPACT

Future interventions can be conducted in group sessions to facilitate social interaction and alleviate loneliness. More resources should be allocated to enhance older adults' care arrangements and coping mechanisms to provide them with the support, as they face challenges in daily life due to mobility impairment and other restrictions.

Perception of Self-Efficacy and Health-Related Behavior in Context of Taekwon-Do Sport Camps

Background: The aim of this paper is to expand the knowledge on the subject matter of the relations between behavior that is geared towards health and the feeling of effectiveness in the context of martial arts tourism in the form of Taekwon-do training summer camps. Method: The research encompassed 58 people (32 men and 26 women) who train Taekwon-do (ITF) (aged: 26.36 ± 8.97; scope: 18–45 years of age). The measurement of the feeling of effectiveness and healthy behavior was conducted by means of standardized tools, including the General Self-Efficacy Scale. Results: The analyzed fighters who participated in the research in the majority of the sports meetings declared a higher level of the feeling of effectiveness (p < 0.001). Through cluster analysis emerged two groups, with a significant difference between self-efficacy (mean value of 20.05 points in contrast to 33.93 points in the second group). The group with higher psychological indices values attended a higher amount of summer camps during their practice history (at least two camps attended in the second cluster). Conclusion: Sports tourism connected with martial arts, as exemplified by training groups (professionally organized training camps) of Taekwon-do (ITF), is connected with the increased feeling of personal effectiveness, while also serving the enhancement of psycho-physical health, well-being, and the development of social skills.

Suffering and Salutogenesis: A Conceptual Analysis of Lessons for Psychiatry From Existential Positive Psychology (PP2.0) in the Setting of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a widespread effect on the thoughts, emotions and behavior of millions of people all around the world. In this context, a large body of scientific literature examining the mental health impact of this global crisis has emerged. The majority of these studies have framed this impact in terms of pre-defined categories derived from psychiatric nosology, such as anxiety disorders, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. These constructs often fail to capture the complexity of the actual experiences of the individuals being studied; more specifically, they describe these experiences exclusively in terms of disease, while neglecting their potentially adaptive or “salutogenic” aspects. Similarly, discussion of psychological assistance for these individuals has largely been confined to a reiteration of “evidence-based” psychological or pharmacological techniques which can be delivered using remote access technology. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, these approaches are likely to be of mixed efficacy. Conversely, “negative emotions” or distressing psychological experiences may actually be functional in the setting of a disaster or crisis, serving to minimize harm, maximize social coherence and compliance, and facilitate adherence to safety measures. The limitations of the “conventional” approach are, to a certain degree, inherent to the prevailing medical model of mental health. Beyond these considerations lies the concept of “salutogenesis,” a term which refers to the innate capacity of individuals to create and maintain health and well-being in the face of adversity. Using principles derived from the second wave of positive psychology (PP2.0), particularly its emphasis on the totality of human experience and the possibility of deriving meaning and character growth from suffering, this paper conceptually analyses the relevant aspects of salutogenesis and PP2.0, and proposes an alternate approach for addressing mental health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such an approach, while acknowledging the utility of the conventional medical-psychotherapeutic model in specific cases, reduces the risk of medicalizing human experience, and provides individuals and communities with opportunities for growth and adaptation. The benefits of this proposal could potentially extend far beyond the current crisis, offering an opportunity for the field of psychiatry and mental health research to move away from a purely “disease-centered” model.