Below the tip of the iceberg: A qualitative perspective of psychological and social aspects of occupational diseases

Year 2021, , 129 - 139, 23.07.2021

Tuba Usseli Yesim Yasin

https://doi.org/10.20518/tjph.824601

Abstract

Objective: The inadequacy of preventative measures to combat the harmful effects of the working environment leads to circumstances where workers develop occupational diseases. Workers lose their good health and also experience other challenges in various aspects of their daily lives such as being forced to quit their jobs or showing poor performance at work. This study was carried out to observe, understand and analyse the psychological and social consequences that occupational diseases may give rise to.

Methods: It is a quaWlitative study and involves in-depth interviews with workers who were diagnosed with occupational diseases. Interviews, that were conducted with 20 participants through the use of a voice recorder, cover both medical and legal aspects. A targeted sample, chosen to represent the full spectrum of illness, was taken from those who had received medical or legal confirmation of occupational disease. The data was generated manually by the researchers and generated through the thematic analysis technique, again, by the researchers without the use of a software.

Results: We found that the process of diagnosing occupational disease was in itself a stressor and workers experienced negative effects on their mental health, family relationships, gender roles as well as their individual, social and daily living skills.

Conclusion: These effects were manifested in the lives of participants suffering from occupational diseases as stigmatization, depression, social adjustment disorders, concerns about the future, fear of unemployment, impaired gender role and loss of status. The main contribution of this study to the available studies is to demonstrate the necessity to include “stigma related information” in the diagnosis and treatment processes of occupational diseases.

Keywords

Occupational Disesase, Occupational Health, psychological and social effects, Qualitative Research, Stigmatization

Thanks

The authors would like to thank Professors Sibel Sakarya and Nadi Bakirci for their critical reading of the manuscript and constructive comments. We are also grateful to Professor Inci User for her valuable suggestions.

Buzdağının ötesinde: Meslek hastalıklarının psikolojik ve sosyal yönlerine niteliksel bir bakış

Abstract

Amaç: Koruyucu önlemlerin çalışma ortamının zararlı etkileriyle mücadelede yetersiz kalması, çalışanların meslek hastalığı geliştirmelerine neden olur. İşçiler sağlıklarını kaybedebilir ve aynı zamanda günlük yaşamlarını etkileyen işlerini bırakmaya zorlanmak veya işte kötü performans göstermek gibi başka zorluklarla da karşılaşabilirler. Bu çalışma, meslek hastalıklarının yol açabileceği psikolojik ve sosyal sonuçları gözlemlemek, anlamak ve analiz etmek amacıyla yapılmıştır.

Yöntem: Bu niteliksel bir alan araştırmasıdır. Veri oluşturmada derinlemesine görüşme tekniği kullanılmış, ses kaydı alınarak meslek hastalığı tanısı konmuş 20 katılımcı ile görüşülmüştür. Meslek hastalığı için tıbbi veya yasal onay almış olanişçiler arasından meslek hastalıklarını geniş yelpazede temsil etmek üzere birörneklem oluşturulmuştur. Veriler, tematik veri analizi tekniği ile, araştırmacılartarafından bir yazılım olmaksızın analiz edilmiştir.

Bulgular: Meslek hastalığı teşhisisürecinin başlı başına bir stres unsuru olduğu saptanmıştır. Meslek hastalığınınçalışanların ruh sağlığı, aile ilişkileri, cinsiyet rolleri ile bireysel, sosyal ve günlükyaşam becerileri üzerinde olumsuz etkiler oluşturduğu görülmüştür.

Sonuç: Buetkiler, meslek hastalığı olan katılımcıların yaşamlarında damgalanma, depresyon,sosyal uyum bozuklukları, geleceğe yönelik kaygılar, işsizlik korkusu, cinsiyetrollerinde bozulma ve statü kaybı şeklinde kendini göstermiştir. Bu çalışmanınmevcut çalışmalara temel katkısı, meslek hastalıklarının tanı ve tedavi süreçlerinde“damgalanma ile ilgili bilgilerin” yer almasının gerekliliğini göstermesidir

Keywords

Mesleki Sağlık, Meslek Hastalıkları, Niteliksel Araştırma, psikolojik ve sosyal etkiler, niteliksel araştırma, Damgalama

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