Crossing barriers: Role of a tele-outreach program addressing psychosocial needs in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic

Ravindran, Swati; P, Lakshmi Nirisha; Channaveerachari, Naveen Kumar; Seshadri, Shekhar; Kasi, Sekar; Manikappa, Sanjeev Kumar; Cherian, Anish V.; T, Sivakumar Palanimuthu; Sudhir, Paulomi M.; Govindan, Radhakrishnan; P, Bhasker Reddy; Christopher, Allen Daniel; George, Sobin

doi:10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102351

Cited by 35 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Callers also reached out to the iCALL helpline for practical challenges pertaining to transportation, food, shelter, education, livelihood, etc, as well as for the emotional and mental health distress emanating from the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Similar trends have been reported by other national‐level helplines in India that offered tele‐outreach services during the pandemic, where the initial calls pertained to anxiety due to logistical concerns, travel restrictions and medical concerns owing to the nationwide lockdown, and later ones related to psychological issues such as panic, anxiety, depression and substance abuse (Ravindran et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…The second is related to the challenges faced by those who are providing these services and the support they need. As is evident from the literature (Mukherjee, 2020) and from the nature of calls received by some of the leading helplines in India (Ravindran et al., 2020), concerns experienced by the general public, and especially those belonging to vulnerable sections of the society, are often psychosocial in nature. The distress experienced by individuals is not just rooted in their psyches or in the fear of the infection, but is also rooted in their social and economic contexts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The distress experienced by individuals is not just rooted in their psyches or in the fear of the infection, but is also rooted in their social and economic contexts. For example, a preliminary review of calls received by one such helpline in India shows that the initial calls were predominantly linked to the practical issues related to lockdown such as travel restrictions, lack of medical and health facilities, rationing (subsidised provisions of food grains and other cooking essentials), loss of livelihood and shelter, etc., and their psychological impact on callers’ lives (Ravindran et al., 2020). This observation can be explained by the Disaster Survivor Hierarchy of Needs, which consists of: (a) food, water and shelter; (b) safety; (c) family and friends’ support; (d) stress reaction; (e) grief and loss; and (f) assimilation and accommodation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For those working with helplines during COVID‐19, responding to concerns that go beyond traditional mental health issues and fall within the realm of practical concerns (travel, food, shelter, livelihood, etc.) has been a challenge (Ravindran et al., 2020). Further, practitioners are responding to unique concerns of the pandemic that they themselves may not have been prepared for, or feel equipped for (Clay, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Literature documenting helpline counsellors’ experiences during the COVID‐19 pandemic is even scantier. Barring a few instances that document the nature of callers’ concerns and counselling interventions provided over the telephone during the COVID‐19 pandemic (Iqbal et al, 2020; Ravindran et al., 2020), there is a dearth of qualitative studies on counsellors’ experiences of providing telephone counselling services, while going through the fallouts of the pandemic themselves. It is essential to document these concerns, interventions and experiences to aid the preparedness for responding to the complex psychosocial impact of the pandemic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Psychosocial response to COVID‐19 pandemic in India: Helpline counsellors’ experiences and perspectives

Joshi

Tammana

Babre

et al. 2020

Couns and Psychother Res

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The COVID‐19 pandemic presents a threat to physical and psychosocial health of individuals. In lieu of the subsequent lockdown and containment measures, helpline counselling becomes a viable method of accessing psychosocial services during the pandemic. The present paper describes experiences of counsellors working with a special COVID‐19 counselling helpline initiated by iCALL, a national‐level technology‐assisted counselling service of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India, which aims to address the psychosocial impact of the pandemic and the lockdown. The paper is based on two focus group interviews held with 11 counsellors during the initial two months of the helpline's functioning. Findings of the study highlight the diverse profile of the callers, with individuals belonging to different strata of society and to marginalised communities. The nature of concerns presented by the callers were often a mix of psychological, relational and practical issues. The resultant distress emanated from an interplay of these factors with the relational contexts, their social locations and social structures the individuals were embedded in. This highlighted the need for conceptualising and responding from a psychosocial lens, whereby interventions involved traditional counselling approaches and strategies for addressing determinants of distress by connecting callers to required ground‐level resources. Counsellors’ engagement with this process impacted their professional and personal selves, necessitating the need for structured and continuous training, supervision and support. At a larger level, the counsellors’ narratives asserted the need for adopting a psychosocial paradigm for conceptualising and addressing mental health concerns in India.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Psychosocial response to COVID‐19 pandemic in India: Helpline counsellors’ experiences and perspectives

Joshi

Tammana

Babre

et al. 2020

Couns and Psychother Res

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Tele‐mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A systematic review of the literature focused on technical aspects and challenges

Nazemi,

Kiani,

Zakerabasali

2023

Health Science Reports

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IntroductionMental disorders are the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death worldwide, which leads to the death of more than 9 million people annually. The global impact of the Coronavirus epidemic on mental health includes insomnia, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, given the current situation, innovations such as telemedicine to provide prevention and treatment services for people with mental disorders seem necessary.MethodsA literature review was performed according to the preferred items to report in systematic reviews and meta‐analyses (PRISMA). Covering a period from January 2020 to July 2023, we conducted a systematic literature search on five electronic databases (PubMed‐Mesh, Scopus, Web of Science, Science direct, and PsycInfo). The search strategy included three categories of keywords: Mental health, Tele, COVID‐19.ResultsA total of 112 articles were identified by searching the databases of published articles, 13 articles met our inclusion criteria. A total of 76.2% of them were related to patients with stress, anxiety, and depression issues. We found that the real‐time method has been the most common method used to communicate between the physician and the patient (92.3%). The communication technologies used also included telephone, video call, video conference, and E‐mail. During these communications, data was exchanged in text, voice, and video formats. In three studies (27%), interoperability with other systems was mentioned. In addition, 69.2% of the studies reported challenges, the most important of which were access to electronic and communication devices, network connection problems, audio and video problems, and privacy issues.ConclusionsConsidering the many advantages of telemedicine technology in the field of mental health, the need to use this technology in developing countries, including our country, is obvious. But the application of these technologies requires the investigation of technical aspects and challenges related to them as much as possible, which have been seen in few studies.

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The Psychological Implications of COVID-19: A Mental Health Perspective

Ravindran

Roopesh

Murugesan

et al. 2022

Handbook of Health and Well-Being

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Crossing barriers: Role of a tele-outreach program addressing psychosocial needs in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 35 publications

References 14 publications

Psychosocial response to COVID‐19 pandemic in India: Helpline counsellors’ experiences and perspectives

Psychosocial response to COVID‐19 pandemic in India: Helpline counsellors’ experiences and perspectives

Tele‐mental health during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A systematic review of the literature focused on technical aspects and challenges

The Psychological Implications of COVID-19: A Mental Health Perspective

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