Our Elderly Care Program Students Attended the “Talking About Mental Health” Seminar

First and second-year students from the Elderly Care Program at Mersin University’s Vocational School of Health Services attended a seminar titled “Social Work Practices from the Field – III: Talking About Mental Health: The Individual, Family, and Society from Psychiatric and Social Work Perspectives,” organized to mark October 10, World Mental Health Day.

Held at Hall B of the Uğur Oral Cultural Center on the Mersin University Çiftlikköy Campus, the event was organized through the collaboration of the Mersin Branch of the Social Workers Association (SHUDER), Tarsus University, and Mersin University.

Manolya Karaoğlan, Head of the SHUDER Mersin Branch, delivered the opening speech. In her address, she emphasized the necessity of addressing mental health across individual, family, and societal dimensions and highlighted the importance of collaboration between the disciplines of psychiatry and social work.

During the event, Psychiatrist Dr. Oğuzhan Doğan shared his field experiences regarding mental health and psychiatry with the participants. Doğan invited journalist Ali Gültekin—who had successfully overcome a long-term struggle with substance addiction—to the stage, illustrating the dynamics of addiction and the recovery process through a real-life case study.

Our students had the opportunity to hear from experts about the psychosocial processes they might encounter in the field, the importance of an interdisciplinary approach, and the dynamics of combating addiction. The seminar, which attracted significant interest, concluded with an interactive Q&A session where participants' questions were answered.