Characteristics and burnout levels of employees in special education and rehabilitation centers in Kayapinar, Diyarbakir

Aim: It is aimed to examine the burnout levels of the employees working in (SERC) special education and rehabilitation center (teacher, physiotherapist, psychological counseling and guidance specialist, psychologist, specialist instructor) according to their demographic and professional characteristics. Materials and Methods: The present research is a descriptive and cross-sectional. It was conducted between June and September 2018. The population of the study were all employees (n = 410) working in 42 SERC in Kayapınar District of Diyarbakır. It was aimed to reach all individuals but it was conducted on 351 people (85.6%). The personal information form prepared by the researcher and including socio-demographic, occupational information and working environment and the Maslach Burnout Scale form were applied through a face-to-face questionnaire. Necessary permissions and approvals were obtained from Provincial Directorate of National Education and the Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee of Dicle University Faculty of Medicine, also volunteer consent form filled in participants who agreed to the present study. The data collected within the scope of the research was evaluated through the SPSS program. Statistically T test, ANOVA post-hoc Tukey were used. Results: 52.4% of the participants were female, 67.2% were single, 64.4% were under 30 years of age and the mean age was 29.9 ± 7.9. 95.2% were undergraduate graduates, 52.4% were teachers, 24.2% were physiotherapists and 23.4% were other employees. The mean score of emotional exhaustion (DT) was 13.8 ± 7.0, the mean score of depersonalization (D) was 3.8 ± 3.1 and the mean score of personal achievement (BP) was 8.9 ± 4.1. In the study, it was found that factors such as choosing voluntary work in private education, receiving support from colleagues, appreciation from the superiors, productivity level in the profession, excessive expectations of families of disabled individuals affected the burnout level (p <.05). Conclusion: It was found that there was moderate emotional exhaustion, low level of depersonalization and low level of personal failure among the employees in SERC. Although employees do not work voluntarily in special education, had families' extreme expectation and inefficient in their profession had more burnout; those who received support from their colleagues and received appreciation from their superiors had less burnout. Families of disabled people should be supported both educationally and psychologically.