Responding to Older Adult Maltreatment: Interdisciplinary Geriatric Care Provider Experiences and Training Needs.

On February 6, 2023, two major earthquakes with magnitudes of 7.7 and 7.6 struck Turkey within a few hours, both centred in the province of Kahramanmaraş. These earthquakes caused not only severe destruction in Kahramanmaraş but also affected several cities in Syria and led to the declaration of 11 surrounding provinces as disaster zones. The earthquakes had a wide geographical impact and resulted in large‐scale devastation. According to official reports, 44,218 people lost their lives, and 80,278 were injured in Turkey. Due to their scale and severity, the earthquakes have been described as the ‘disaster of the century’ (AFAD, ). Consequently, this disaster has been recorded as the largest and most devastating natural catastrophe in the history of Turkey (Zhao et al., ). Witnessing natural disasters is a traumatic experience that can deeply affect individuals, leading to heightened anxiety and stress. Such disasters threaten both the physical and psychological integrity of individuals, commonly resulting in responses such as shock, confusion, anger, helplessness and fear of death (Karaarslan et al., ). Although these reactions are initially considered normal responses to an extraordinary event, if elevated levels of anxiety and stress persist over time, they may develop into serious mental health problems (Wiseman et al., ). Post‐traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common and severe consequences of exposure to potentially traumatic experiences. In the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD‐11), PTSD is characterized by three symptom clusters: re‐experiencing in the here and now, avoidance of traumatic reminders and a persistent sense of threat. PTSD frequently co‐occurs with other mental health disorders, particularly anxiety and depression (Akbari et al., ; Andualem et al., ; Lewis et al., ; Quan et al., ). This comorbidity significantly hinders recovery and negatively impacts individuals' daily functioning (Birkley et al., ; Futterman et al., ; Jellestad et al., ). Not every individual exposed to trauma develops severe mental health problems. Various individual and environmental factors—such as the type and severity of the trauma, the level of material or emotional support received afterward, personal injury and the loss of loved ones—can play a critical role in this process (Ford et al., ; Jones et al., ; Lai et al., ; Taşkın et al., ). In a study conducted by Liu et al. (), the lifetime prevalence of trauma exposure was found to be 70.3%; however, despite this high rate, the prevalence of PTSD among those exposed to trauma was only 4.0%. This discrepancy highlights the need for a better understanding of the factors that contribute to the development of PTSD. Gaining insight into the mechanisms underlying PTSD is essential for designing effective early intervention strategies (Bisson et al., ; Çimen, Seçer, & Pakiş, ).