Earthquake. Moral Injury and Resilience.

We investigate the moral injury experiences of healthcare personnel working in the February 6 earthquakes and how moral resilience can be developed in them.

About Project News
Medical team

February 6 and Healthcare Workers

The earthquakes on February 6, 2023, shook Turkey and caused thousands of casualties. Immediately after the earthquake, healthcare workers worked with great dedication in the treatment and care of earthquake victims. They pushed the boundaries to save lives, reduce losses, and minimize damage. This process affected them negatively, both physically and mentally. Among these were participating in or witnessing practices that conflicted with their own values and beliefs. So, what kind of traces did this leave on them?
February 6 earthquake
Map of Turkey

What Happened?

The February 6 earthquakes caused a destruction in Turkey and Syria that is difficult to repair. While more than 50 thousand people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people were injured and the lives of millions of people were adversely affected. Hospitals, temporary infirmaries, and field tents witnessed the superhuman efforts of healthcare workers during the earthquake. They worked day and night despite challenging conditions, inadequate equipment, limited resources, and administrative and organizational chaos. Thus, they both saved thousands of lives at the time of the event and took part in the health services of the earthquake victims after the disaster.

About the Project

The DAYAN project, supported by the TÜBİTAK 3005 Program, aims to reveal the moral injury related experiences of healthcare personnel who worked in the field and behind the field during the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes that occurred on February 6, 2023. As the researchers of the project, we will examine how healthcare workers cope with the ethical challenges they face, how these experiences affect their ethical values and beliefs, and their self-perception as moral subjects. In addition, based on this knowledge, we aim to develop quality criteria and practical solution suggestions to prevent moral injury and related harms in healthcare workers in the face of similar experiences and to strengthen moral resilience!
About the project - DAYAN

What Will We Do?

1

Survey

A wide-scale survey to measure moral injury among healthcare workers and create a participant pool for the next phase.

Through a large-scale survey, demographic information, moral injury, and moral resilience levels of healthcare workers deployed in the earthquake zone are measured, and a participant pool is formed for the qualitative research phase.
Take the survey
2

In-Depth Interviews

Conducting 30 individual interviews to understand the experiences of people who experienced and did not experience moral injury.

Face-to-face or online in-depth interviews with selected participants examine ethical dilemmas and moral injury experiences in detail.
3

Focus Group Discussions

Validating in-depth interview findings with participants through focus group discussions.

Three focus group discussions will be held to validate findings together with participants and discuss different perspectives on common ground.
4

Workshop

Discussing problem areas, solution suggestions, and quality standards with participants and reporting results.

In the final phase of the project, concrete solution proposals and draft guides will be prepared in collaboration with participants, to be submitted to policymakers and relevant institutions, based on all data collected.