The Effect of COVID -19 Crisis on Hopelessness,Loneliness and Spiritual Well-Being of Patients with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes in Turkey

Journal of Religion and Health - This study aims to examine the relationship between the levels of hopelessness, loneliness, and spiritual well-being of patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes...     

The Securitization of Migrant Workers in Sabah,Malaysia

In the past decades, the Malaysia’s economy, particularly in Sabah, faced high dependence on migrant workers, predominantly Indonesian and Filipino workers. This over-reliance on migrant workers made the ruling elites in the country fear that their dominant presence would undermine the government’s policy to move Malaysia from a labor intensive to an automation in order to achieve the status of a developed nation, as well as a policy to prioritize locals over foreigners in all economic sectors. In order to implement this policy and to break the economic sectors from continuing to rely on the foreigners, the ruling elites have continuously associated migrant workers, especially illegal laborers, as a security threat that needs to be flushed out. This paper utilizes the Copenhagen School framework of securitization to explain why the securitizing actors, namely the politicians and the ruling elites, continue to frame Indonesian and the Filipino workers in Sabah as security issue. Two case studies are presented to examine the securitization of migrant workers in Sabah: first, “All-out war against illegals” and Ops Nyah II, 2002–03 and second, Ops Nasihat, 2004–05. However, this paper argues that making illegal migrant workers as security issue and form a sound policy to control immigrants cannot solely rely on the speech act and power of persuasion, as central in the theory because other condition factors, namely the domestic politics of the state, the federal-state relations, nature of state economy, and international pressures, are also significant in explaining why the government has never been consistent in its policy on migrant workers in Sabah.     

The effects of appraisal system redesign on perceptions of and satisfaction with performance appraisal: A quasi-experiment

A case study investigation of the effects of a change in a performance appraisal system was described. The nature of a recently implemented appraisal system was briefly outlined. Five hundred forty-seven employees of a 300-bed hospital returned mail questionnaires which asked them to respond to questions about the hospital's performance appraisal system. Two groups of employees were formed on the basis of their experience or lack of experience with the new system. It was found that the employees who had experience with the new system had more favorable perceptions of their supervisors' appraisal behaviors and were more satisfied with the appraisal process.     

Does Problem Focused Coping Buffer the Effects of Trait Anxiety on Depressive Symptoms of Chronic Urticaria Patients?

The present study examined the moderating role of problem-focused coping in trait anxiety—depressive symptoms' relationship in patients with chronic urticaria (CU). Eighty-eight CU patients, who applied to an outpatient clinic of Clinical Immunology and Allergic Diseases, filled out a questionnaire set including State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Ways of Coping Inventory, and Beck Depression Inventory. The results suggested that CU patients high on trait anxiety reported more depressive symptoms, and the ones using more problem-focused coping (PFC) strategies reported less depressive symptoms. Also, PFC strategies moderated trait anxiety-depressive symptoms relation. Accordingly, PFC strategies did not lead to any significant difference in CU patients who were low on trait anxiety in terms of the level of depressive symptoms. However, CU patients with high trait anxiety experienced significantly less depressive symptoms if they used more PFC strategies. The findings were discussed in the light of the relevant literature.     

Understanding the Perception of Islamic Medicine Among the Malaysian Muslim Community

This study was conducted to identify and describe the patients’ perceptions of Islamic medicine based on gender, age, marital, educational level and working status among the Malaysian Muslim population. A nationwide interviewer-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in 2013. An open-ended questionnaire pertaining to Islamic medicine was used to increase the probability of capturing maximum data. This survey implemented a multistage design, stratified by state, proportionate to the size of the state population and was representative of the Malaysian population. Post-survey classification of results was performed accordingly. Complex data analysis was carried out using SPSS 16.0. The discussion was identified and categorised into various sections. The paper concludes that Islamic medicine has a major influence in the Malaysian Muslim community compared to other alternatives. Further, its potential for growth and importance especially for treating spiritual ailments cannot be denied. The respondents indicated that two factors motivate Islamic medicine in Malaysia: (1) the Muslim community opts for alternative healing because of their dissatisfaction with conventional methods; (2) Islamic medicine focuses only on healing spiritual-related problems. The average perception of respondents is that the function of Islamic medicine in healing physical diseases is undervalued and that it is not suitable to replace the functions of modern health institutions.     

Does theory of mind performance differ in children with early‐onset and regressive autism?

A deficit in theory of mind (ToM), or the ability to infer the mental states of others, has been implicated as one of the major characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, little attention has been devoted to possible differences in ToM ability within ASD. The current study examined ToM performance in children with early-onset autism and regressive autism in comparison to typically developing children. Results indicated that children in the regressive autism group performed significantly better than the early-onset autism group on the non-verbal appearance-reality task. Additionally, Fisher's exact tests indicated a pattern of lowest scores in the early-onset group and highest scores in the typically developing group, whereas the regressive autism group tended to score in between the early-onset and typically developing groups. The apparent heterogeneity in ToM performance within ASD could account for the lack of universality in ToM ability found in previous studies.     

Mass Gathering Medicine New discipline to Deal with Epidemic and Infectious Diseases in the Hajj Among Muslim Pilgrimage: A Mini Review Article

Mass Gathering Medicine is one of the new disciplines in Medicine which deal with all health aspects in overcrowded areas. Mass Gathering Medicine is an important new challenging discipline which needs to be supported by all concern experts such as the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ministries of health from all countries, universities, research centers, and all other experts in this field. Scientist and academic staffs from all countries should be encouraged to participate in narrowing the gap of knowledge for Mass Gathering Medicine. Postgraduate board or fellowship certificate should be encouraged internationally.     

Seeking help at an Islamic spiritual healing centre: Malaysia’s perspective

Spiritual healing centre is a popular place to seek help among Malaysians whether for medical, psychiatric or other reasons. This study aims to understand the characteristics and illness perception of those patients who seek help at Islamic spiritual healing centre. A cross-sectional study was conducted at an established Islamic spiritual healing centre with 357 respondents. Younger age (OR .97, 95%CI .94–.99, p?=?.002), higher education level (OR 1.99, 95%CI 1.15–3.45, p?=?.014) and a more threatening view of the illness (OR 1.19, 95%CI 1.13–1.26, p?≤?.001) were found to confer risk of seeking help at this centre among attendees with psychiatric diagnosis. Supernatural attribution to illness is common among the attenders with or without a psychiatric diagnosis. Spirituality is important to bring balance and healing. Collaboration with Islamic spiritual healing practitioners to co-manage patients is recommended.