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

Abstract

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.

Vivencias de ansiedad por la pandemia por covid-19 en llamadas de urgencias psicológicas

“…En Bangladesh, se reportaron ansiedad y falta de sueño en 87% de las llamadas, 42% con problemas de salud física o preocupación por los tratamientos o pruebas de COVID-19, 29% reportaron dificultades para el manejo del tiempo durante el confinamiento, problemas por el trabajo de oficina en casa, falta de descanso, entre otros (Iqbal et al, 2020). Otro estudio en India (Joshi et al, 2020) identificó que las llamadas de los usuarios presentan varios motivos simultáneamente. Los motivos identificados fueron estar ansiosos por síntomas parecidos a COVID-19, por los riesgos de contagio por contacto con objetos y por los costos y el lugar para recibir atención médica (Joshi et al, 2020).…”

“…Otro estudio en India (Joshi et al, 2020) identificó que las llamadas de los usuarios presentan varios motivos simultáneamente. Los motivos identificados fueron estar ansiosos por síntomas parecidos a COVID-19, por los riesgos de contagio por contacto con objetos y por los costos y el lugar para recibir atención médica (Joshi et al, 2020). Este mismo estudio señaló que los usuarios reportaron síntomas de ansiedad, depresión, soledad, sentirse sobrepasados o desmotivados, siendo más importantes en personas con antecedentes de problemas mentales (Joshi et al, 2020).…”

Tele mental health helplines during the COVID-19 pandemic: Do we need guidelines?

“…It allows delivery of services by experts remotely through telecommunication technology (telephonic or online-based communication) to people living in distant areas with no physical contact, minimizing the risk of spreading COVID-19 infection. Additionally, telephonic counselling services do not require access to internet or sophisticated digital devices, and would be able to cater a wider range of difficult to reach and vulnerable population groups who are more likely to experience greater levels of psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Joshi et al, 2021 ). This is also reflected in the increasing number of tele mental health helplines operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, with both scientific and media reports suggesting positive response towards telephonic counselling or psychotherapy services (Central Government’s Teletherapy Helpline Counsels Over 60,000 People on Mental Health Issues Related to COVID-19 And Lockdown, n.d; Ravindran et al, 2020 ).…”

“…This is also reflected in the increasing number of tele mental health helplines operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, with both scientific and media reports suggesting positive response towards telephonic counselling or psychotherapy services (Central Government’s Teletherapy Helpline Counsels Over 60,000 People on Mental Health Issues Related to COVID-19 And Lockdown, n.d; Ravindran et al, 2020 ). However, almost all the studies assessing the effect of telepsychology services have included free-of-cost helplines manned by qualified clinical psychologists associated with government institutions or non-profit organizations till now ( Hazarika et al, 2021 , Joshi et al, 2021 , Ravindran et al, 2020 ). Here, we discuss about potential concerns associated with the working of different tele mental helpline services during the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide suggestions for improvement and quality control of services provided by them.…”

“…Thus, there is a chance that inadequately trained or unqualified people are engaged in providing these services by some private-run tele helplines, which might end up making callers feel more distressed or helpless. Further, the available literature suggests that inadequately trained or unqualified service providers might be at a greater risk of being negatively affected themselves by attending several distress calls during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Joshi et al, 2021 ). This might be due to their insufficient understanding of the hierarchy of different human needs during a disaster and their lack of expertise in being able to help the callers in distress adequately.…”