IntroductionThe locus of control is associated with a variety of psychological concepts, theories and researches, including learned helplessness, which is explained in way that person has learned to act helpless even when they actually have control over their situation or the ability to change a circumstance or outcome. In this scientific work, the aim is to examine the corelation between the locus of control and stress coping strategies in a group of health care workers. A sample is 110 respondents, of different age, gender, ages and educational degrees.ObjectivesIn this research, the aim is to examine the connection between locus of control and coping strategies among healthcare workers during the Covid-19 epidemic. The research results showed that there are no statistically significant differences in the relationship between stress coping strategies and locus of control in relation to men and women and age. Also, there is a statistically significant difference in the stress coping strategy focused on avoidance in relation to the locus of control, i.e. it turned out that the coping strategy focused on avoidance is more pronounced in respondents with an internal locus of control than in those with an external locus of control.MethodsThe research was conducted at the Clinical Center of Montenegro, in Podgorica, in March 2022, through an online program, due to the epidemiological situation. The sample consists of 110 respondents, of both sexes and aged from 20 to 65 years old, who were chosen by the method of random selection. The CISS and RI-E scales were used.ResultsThe research showed that there is a connection between the locus of control and strategies for overcoming stress, but that there are no statistically significant differences in the connection between strategies for overcoming stress and locus of control in relation to men and women and their age, as well as that there is a statistically significant difference in the strategy coping with stress focused on avoidance in relation to locus of control, i.e. it was shown that the coping strategy focused on avoidance is more pronounced in respondents with an internal locus of control than in those with an external locus of control.Image:Image 2:Image 3:ConclusionsThis research actually confirmed the importance of individuality and various factors that can affect a person, and because of this, it was very likely that not all hypotheses could be answered in the way the author expected before the research began. With this, it can be assumed that the personality of a person can hardly be related to broad styles of coping with stress, and that generalizations regarding gender, age, education and work experience cannot be made, because there are predominantly individual differences in the development of an individual.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Just a few decades ago, death was considered and accepted as an expected part of human existence: people were dying of old age and/or severe illness. The new age has brought a new concept: to delay aging and dying for as long as possible. Most of the once-incurable, life-threatening diseases, which include malignancies, have today become chronic diseases and their poor prognoses—terminal condition and fatal outcome—are difficult or impossible for a large part of the population to accept. A holistic and multidisciplinary approach to the cancer patient has become increasingly complex due to the application of personalized medicine: the right medicine, for the right patient, at the right time. Surgery, oncological radiology, and medical oncology are on this path and are combined with modern diagnostics, especially genetics, but also with new domains: ethical, legislative, sociological, economic, customary, and spiritual. Success in determining the genetic map of humans has brought about emotional, psychological, cultural, and religious dilemmas. Spirituality is ubiquitous in sufferers of all nations, races, ages, and, regardless of different religious formats, it sets a need, almost an imperative, to create spiritual care teams (SCTs,). Developing countries have largely overcome the low-level state of enlightenment of certain communities which, even today, perceive cancer as God’s will, punishment, or destiny. On the other hand, their transition in some countries takes a very long time. They have not yet reached the level of a developed consumer society, and some have fallen into the trap of class stratification, corruption, and discrimination. Comprehensive, targeted individualization for each oncology patient is crucial to the final outcome of the malignant disease.

Introduction/Aim: Research has shown that psychosocial support activates patients' resources and provides a better quality of life to oncology patients who struggle with the disease and side-effects of the therapy. The aim of this study was to examine whether connecting hospitalized patients based on a similar emotional experience during treatment could help them in coping and accepting the treatment. Methods: In September 2019, we began the program of psychological support groups with patients at the Department of Radiotherapy of the Institute of Oncology, Clinical Center of Montenegro. While designing the content of the workshops, we used our own knowledge in the field of health psychology, applied psychological techniques and psychotherapy, and placed special emphasis on mindfulness or full awareness. Our sample consisted of 58 workshop participants, 36 were women and 22 were men. The workshops consisted of 7 segments and they were organized once in a month during six months and lasted 1 hour and 30 minutes. Results: Qualitative analysis of the content of the workshops and subsequent monitoring of patients who went through them shows that organizing support groups has its meaning and purpose and many benefits, primarily in the field of accepting the illness, overcoming emotional blockages, strengthening self-capacity and focusing on other life circumstances, besides their disease. Conclusion: It is necessary to organize this type of workshops for patients who are treated on an outpatient basis, as well as to introduce new segments in the content of the workshops.