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LABORATORY FOR THE MENTAL HEALTH OF HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

Department: Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences
Laboratory:  Laboratory for the Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals
Director:  Antonia Paschali, Associate Professor in Health Psychology
 

Laboratory Contact Details

Room / Building

  • 123 Papadiamandopoulou str, Goudi (1st floor, Office 5)

 

General Description

The "Laboratory of Psychopathology and Neuropsychology" was established in 1996 (Government Gazette: 195/24.8.1996). The "Laboratory for the Mental Health of Healthcare Professionals" is the renamed version of the "Laboratory of Psychopathology and Neuropsychology" following a decision published in the Government Gazette (2350/B/16.06.2020).

The Laboratory aims to contribute to research, training, and the provision of mental health counseling services to healthcare professionals (such as nurses, doctors, psychologists, social workers caring for patients) and/or rescuers involved in mass disaster interventions. Its goal is to prevent and address stress, develop effective workplace communication, and foster their psychological resilience.

Aims of the Laboratory

  • Training of health care professionals on issues related to their mental health and resilience.
  • Research on mental health issues associated with the well-being of care providers and the relationships they develop with people in need of their services.
  • Consultation and psychological support services for health care providers, teams and health care organizations.

Activities of the Laboratory

The Laboratory develops activities in the following areas:

1. Educational Activities

The Laboratory's activities enhance the knowledge of students in the following courses:

Undergraduate Courses

  • Health Psychology
  • Introduction to Psychology
  • Communication Skills
  • Liaison Psychiatric Nursing
  • Sociology of Health

Postgraduate Courses

  • Communication and Interpersonal Relationships
  • Illness, Death, and Grief
  • Psychosocial Support for Refugees
  • Pediatric Palliative Care
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Stress Management in Care Teams
  • Brief Psychosocial Interventions
  • Psychotherapies
  • Strategies for Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Communication with Children and Parents

2. Research Activities
The research conducted by the Laboratory includes, but is not limited to, the following themes:

  • The impact of caring for patients with acute, chronic, and life-threatening health problems on the mental health of healthcare professionals.
  • The effects of job demands and resources on employees' mental health and the quality of services provided.
  • Biological factors associated with stress.
  • Psychosocial impacts of pandemics on the mental health of healthcare professionals.
  • Communication and constructive relationships among patients, relatives, and healthcare staff.
  • The influence of different leadership styles on the functionality of healthcare teams and the job satisfaction of their members.
  • Organizational culture and the mental health of healthcare professionals.

The Laboratory's research activities include:

  1. Conducting and participating in research projects.
  2. Publishing articles and presenting findings at conferences.
  3. Collaborating with research centers and academic institutions, both domestic and international, provided that their objectives align with, complement, or coincide with those of the Laboratory.

3. Consulting Activities
These activities include:
3.1. Supervising healthcare professionals and graduates of the Nursing Department.
3.2. Providing consulting services to administrative staff in healthcare organizations and services regarding the mental health of healthcare personnel who care for patients, families, and communities affected by disasters.

Laboratory Seminars

  • January - April 2016
    Seminar «Introduction to Qualitative Health Research»
    In collaboration with the Society of Nursing Studies
  • September 2016 - January 2017
    Seminar «Applications of Qualitative Research in Health»
    In collaboration with the Society of Nursing Studies
  • September 2017 – December 2018
    «Participation in the development of educational booklets for the support of refugee and migrant children»
    In collaboration with “Merimna” civil, non-profit organization for the care of children and families facing illness and death which coordinated the project.
  • The following booklets were designed and printed in both Greek and English
  • - Psychosocial support for refugee children and families (2018)
    - Good Practices for the prevention and management of self-harm among unaccompanied refugee and migrant adolescents (2019)
    - Good practices in managing conflict and violence in accommodation shelters for unaccompanied refugee children (2019)
    - Good practices for the prevention and management of stress among field workers who work in shelters for unaccompanied refugee and migrant children (2019)

  • May 11th, 2019
    Seminar: «The stress and its management in staff members of the National Emergency Aid Center (ΕΚΑΒ)»
    Collaboration with the National Emergency Aid Center (EKAB)

Collaborating Faculty Members

The following collaborators have participated in the Laboratory's activities to date:

Clinical Activities

  • Support group on stress management – Administration Office, Faculty of Nursing

Recent Research Programs

1. "Psychosocial Support for Unaccompanied Minors Residing in Long-Term Care Facilities"

  • Funded by the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.), 2020–2023.
  • Focus: Providing psychosocial support to unaccompanied minors to enhance their mental well-being and integration into society.

2. "Dyadic Representations and Stress Management Strategies: A Preliminary Study on Their Relationship with the Quality of Life of Women with Cancer and Their Partners"

  • Funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Government Gazette 16/A/31-1-2020).
  • Focus: Investigating the interplay between stress management strategies, dyadic relationships, and the quality of life in female cancer patients and their partners.

3. "Training in Stress Management for EKAV Rescuers"

  • Funded by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (Government Gazette 16/A/31-1-2020).
  • Focus: Developing and delivering stress management training programs for emergency medical rescuers to enhance their resilience and mental health.

Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

1. Stress Management Initiatives

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Laboratory issued two press releases focusing on stress management:

 2. Collaborative Research Study

In collaboration with the Laboratory of Applied Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Crete, the Laboratory conducted an online survey titled:
"SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic: Psychological Reactions and Consequences 20 Months After the Onset of the Pandemic" (November–December 2021).

The study primarily examined:

  • The pandemic's impact on psychological well-being and quality of life in the adult population.
  • Adherence to preventive behaviors to avoid SARS-CoV-2 infection.
  • Factors influencing these outcomes.

The initial findings were published on the HUB-NKUA platform:
https://hub.uoa.gr/psychological-reactions-and-consequences-20-months-after-the-onset-of-the-pandemic/

 

International Recognition

«Herman Feifel  Award”  to Danai Papadatou, in recognition of outstanding achievement in thanatology, International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement, Finstadjordet, Norway, 26 May 2022.

 

Indicative Publications

  • Brannon, L., Updegraff, J. A., Feist, J. (2024). Psychology of Health.Scientific Editing of Greek Edition: Antonia Paschali, Giorgos Koulierakis, Maria Karekla.10th Edition, Tziola Publications.ISBN: 9786182210833.
  • Antonia Paschali & Evangelos C. Karademas. (2024).  Immunity, self-regulation, and COVID-related distress two years following the outburst of the pandemic  Special issue “Contemporary challenges in Clinical and Health Psychology”.  Psychology, the Journal of the Hellenic Psychological Society.
  • Gamvrouli M, Karanikola MN, Paschali A, Giannakopoulou M. (2023). Reliability of Moral Distress Scale, Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale, and Jefferson Scale of Empathy Among Greek Nurses: A Pilot Study. J Nurs Meas. 2023 Jun 22:JNM-2022-0007.R1. doi: 10.1891/JNM-2022-0007. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37348889.
  • Giannousi Z, Thomadakis C, Karademas EC, Paschali A. (2023). The dyadic regulation approach of coping and illness representations in female cancer patients and their partners. Front Psychol. 2023 Sep 6;14:1194900. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1194900. PMID: 37744592; PMCID: PMC10512019.
  • Antonia Paschali, Alexandra Palli, Christoforos Thomadakis, Evangelos C Karademas (2021). The interplay between individual and dyadic/common coping in female patients with cancer, European Journal of Psychology Open, Vol. 80, No. 4doi.org/10.1024/2673-8627/a000012.
  • Peppou, L. E., Giannouchos, T., Economou, M., & Paschali, A. (2021). The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on paramedics’ mental health in Greece. EuropeanPsychiatry64(Suppl1),S274. doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2021.736
  • Souliotis K, Peppou LE, Economou M, Marioli A, Nikolaidi S, Saridi M, Varvaras D, Paschali A, Syrigos KN. (2021).Treatment Adherence in Patients with Lung Cancer from Prospects of Patients and Physicians. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 1;22(6):1891-1898. doi: 10.31557/APJCP.2021.22.6.1891. PMID: 34181348; PMCID: PMC8418830.
  • Giannakopoulou, M., Vouzavali, F., Paikopoulou, D., Paschali, A., Mpouzika, M., & Karanikola, M. (2021). Attitudes, beliefs and knowledge towards Medical Cannabis of Greek undergraduate and postgraduate university nursing students. Complementary therapies in medicine58, 102703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2021.102703.
  • Palli, Α., Peppou, l.Ε.,  Economou, Μ, Kontoangelos, Κ., Souliotis, Κ., & Paschali, Α. (2021). Economic distress in families with a member suffering from severe mental illness: illness burden or financial crisis?,  Community Mental Health Journal, 57(3):512-521. doi: 10.1007/s10597-020-00674-9.
  • Sourkes, B., Liben, S., & Papadatou, D. (2022).  Witness to suffering: the clinician experience. In. J. Wolfe, P. Hinds, & B. Sourkes (Eds.) In Interdisciplinary Pediatric Palliative Care, 2nd edition. NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Papadatou, D. (2009). In the Face of Death: Professionals who Care for the Dying and the Bereaved. NY: Springer Publ.Papadatou, D. (2013) The private worlds of professionals, teams and organizations in palliative care. In G. Cox & R. Stevenson (Eds.) Final Acts: the End of life: Hospice and Palliative Care (pp. 25-44). Baywood  Publishing Inc. Co.
  • Papadatou, D., Bellali, T., Papazoglou, D., Petraki, D. (2002). Greek physicians’ and nurses’ grief as a result of caring for children dying of cancer. Pediatric Nursing, 28(4): 345-353.