Date of Award

10-10-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Nursing (MScN)

First Advisor

Dr. Rafat Jan

Second Advisor

Ms. Ambreen Tharani

Third Advisor

Ms. Yasmin Nadeem Parpio

Department

School of Nursing and Midwifery, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: The Martyrs are military personnel who sacrifice their lives for the benefit of their nation. Their families not only face the traumatic experience of losing their loved ones, but this loss may substantially affect their physical, socioeconomic, and emotional health, and mental well-being. It may serve as a "vulnerability factor," raising the risk of serious mental illness.
Purpose: The current ground-breaking study's objective was to develop and test the effectiveness of a psycho-social intervention for enhancing the mental well-being and to determine its practicality acceptability among the women in martyrs' families.
Methods: This study employed a quasi-experimental design with intervention and control groups. The participants were martyrs' families (mother, wife, sisters, daughters) living in Malir, Karachi. To fulfill the aims, the study adopted a three-phase strategy. First, the psycho-social intervention module was developed, with the assistance of professionals. After a thorough review of the relevant content, it was validated by experts. Although 80 women from martyr families were recruited but, finally, 62 completed the intervention, 31 in each group. The psycho-social intervention was based on positive psychology comprising six modules, mindfulness, social support, gratitude, happiness, physical exercise and healthy diet, spirituality, and purpose in life with the acronym ‘BE HAPPY’. The intervention was delivered over six sessions of 90 minutes using three modalities, face-to-face interactive sessions, booklets, and telephonic support, while the control group was given only a booklet. The participants' mental health was assessed using the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale at the time of baseline (T1), after 6 weeks (T2), and after 8 weeks.
Findings: The independent sample t-test and two-way repeated measure ANOVA were used to measure the difference between and within the experimental and control groups. The study indicated that the psycho-social intervention significantly improved the mental well-being and life satisfaction score (P< 0.001), with an effect size of 0.46 and 0.61. The participants gave positive feedback and exhibited acceptance through their comments about the intervention and the valuable information and telephonic support that they received.
Conclusion: The study's findings suggest that a psycho-social intervention is effective in improving mental well-being; hence, it should be provided as a supportive measure package to all martyrs' families to preserve their mental health, shortly after the death of their loved ones.

First Page

1

Last Page

231

Download

Share

COinS