It is estimated that more than 300,000 people have died because of COVID-19 globally. The vast majority of documented deaths have occurred within hospitals, leading to psychological impacts on both family members and health care workers. This paper describes the actions (online death notification education, remote crisis intervention, and support for health care professionals) taken at a hospital in Mexico to address the psychological impacts of the notification of a COVID-19 -related death on both the deceased's relatives and the health care personnel involved.
Communicating bad news is one of the most frequent activities in hospitals, for which some recommendations have been adapted to the needs within the coronavirus-2 disease context. This document presents nine steps to deliver bad news (face to face or remotely) adapted to the COVID-19 context from two international protocols (SPIKES and GRIEV_ING). The importance of promoting physical and emotional self-care skills in health personnel is also described, as well as psychological first aid strategies to address the emotional response of the family member who receives the news. Finally, the limitations and advantages of the proposal should be considered.
Antecedentes: Cuidar a un ser querido durante el proceso de admisión y hospitalización en el departamento de emergencias médicas puede promover una serie de estresores que lleven al cuidador a experimentar trastornos de salud mental, como ansiedad, depresión y sobrecarga. Objetivo: Identificar la asociación entre sobrecarga y sintomatología ansiosa o depresiva en los cuidadores primarios informales en el departamento de emergencias de un hospital público de la Ciudad de México. Método: Estudio retrospectivo transversal mediante revisión de expedientes de cuidadores primarios informales en el periodo de 2017-2018. Resultados: De los 101 cuidadores, se encontró que el 58% presentaban un nivel de sobrecarga mínima, mientras que el 35% tenían un nivel moderado y el 7% un nivel grave. Se halló sintomatología depresiva en el 48% y sintomatología ansiosa en el 60%. Se identificaron correlaciones positivas, débiles y estadísticamente significativas, entre el puntaje de sobrecarga y el puntaje de sintomatología depresiva (r s = 0.347; p < 0.001) y ansiosa (r s = 0.398; p < 0.001). Conclusiones: La ansiedad, la depresión y la sobrecarga son problemas de salud mental presentes en los cuidadores primarios informales de pacientes atendidos en emergencias médicas; no obstante, se recomienda realizar más estudios que confirmen los hallazgos reportados.
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