Staff Perception of Respect for Human Rights of Users and Organizational Well-being: A Study in Four Different Countries of the Mediterranean Area

Abstract

Background: The perception by mental health service staff of respect for users' rights is a fundamental component of organizational well-being. The objective of this work is to examine how cultural differences and the working context can influence the perception of respect for users' rights in mental health professionals in the Mediterranean area. Methods: An observational survey carried out in four different mental health networks in four countries of the Mediterranean area (Tunisia, North-Macedonia, Italy, Palestine). Each invited participant fulfilled a format on socio-demographic information and coded the Well-Being at Work and Respect Right Questionnaire (WWRR). All data were encrypted and analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The Games-Howell post-hoc test was used to assess differences between countries. The Games-Howell test does not assume equal variances and sample sizes. Eta-squared (η2) was used as a measure of effect size in the ANOVA (η2 around 0.01, 0.06, and 0.14 are considered small, medium, and large, respectively). Results: The sample included 590 professionals working in the mental health field. The four countries showed statistically significant differences with regards to the quality rights assessment tool. Participants from Italy reported, on average, the highest scores across the questions. There were also differences across the countries about the perception of the impact of available resources on the effectiveness of care (η2 = 0.106). Conclusion: Our findings offer a useful insight into the perception of the quality of mental health services, especially from a users’ rights point of view.

The Climate in the European Union and the Enlarged European Region is a Determinant of the COVID-19 Case Fatality Ratio

“…This was found both in the enlarged European area and by restricting the number of states/regions considered in the European Union alone. The first evaluation has the advantage of comparing a multiplicity of different conditions in terms of culture and other possible confounding factors (pollution, greater exposure to travelers, state of health, variables related to the quality of the health system in detecting and transmitting data) [16]; the second evaluation concerns a small number of states with more homogeneous conditions [17]. The fact that both evaluations' results are in agreement, therefore, reinforces the validity of the result.…”

Living With Bipolar Disorder in the Time of Covid-19: Biorhythms During the Severe Lockdown in Cagliari, Italy, and the Moderate Lockdown in Tunis, Tunisia

“…This study compared two cohorts of patients having cultural differences ( 42 ) which may also have influenced the possible confounding factors, such as the fear of the pandemic as a trigger of episodes, the greater impact related to certain deprivations induced by quarantine (minor social supports, less access to religious ceremonies, etc.).…”

Why Was the Perception of Human Rights Respect and Care Satisfaction So High in Users of Italian Mental Health Services during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

“…The questionnaire was conceived in consultation with expert users, psychiatrists, medical doctors, professionals of rehabilitation, and psychometrists. The original version was developed in Italian and English, but translation in several languages is also available [10]. The five core items are coded according to a Likert scale 1-6, in which score 1 means "Not satisfied at all" and score 6 "Completely satisfied".…”

“…Item 7 asks about which types of health professionals the interviewee thinks would be most useful to add in your service with only one possible to be admitted. The tool was described in detail in the paper about validation [10].…”

“…This explains that the higher the score in the items that measured the perception of the respect of human rights, the higher was the perception of job satisfaction and organizational well-being [9]. A comparison between the scores of the same tool fulfilled by mental health workers of four countries in the same Mediterranean area (Italy, North Macedonia, Gaza and Tunisia) shows that Italian workers gave the highest score in the item concerning the perception that users' rights were most respected in their care services and, consistently, they were the most satisfied with their work [10]. However, they did not give the highest score in item 6 "Staff's satisfaction with resources for care".…”