Scaling Up Global Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Adiukwu, Frances; Filippis, Renato de; Orsolini, Laura; Bytyçi, Drita Gashi; Shoib, Sheikh; Ransing, Ramdas; Slaih, Mohammad; Jaguga, Florence; Handuleh, Jibril; Ullah, Irfan; Karaliūnienė, Rūta; Nagendrappa, Sachin; Vahdani, Bita; Ashrafi, Agaah; Őri, Dorottya; Noël, Camille; Abbass, Zargham; Jatchavala, Chonnakarn; Costa, Mariana Pinto da; Essam, Lamiaà; Vadivel, Ramyadarshni; Shalbafan, Mohammadreza

doi:10.1176/appi.ps.202000774

Cited by 27 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Our study also observed a significant increase in the number of follow-up interventions of subjects that were already being treated in the “pre-COVID-19” period. This has been made possible by the highly significant increase of digital mental health interventions ( 47 – 51 ). Indeed, digital mental health interventions, such as those delivered via mobile and web-based platforms, offer the potential to improve access to care while avoiding many existing barriers to receiving face-to-face intervention, including stigma and time ( 52 – 54 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Youth Psychopathological Distress in Umbria, Central Italy: A 2-Year Observational Study in a Real-World Setting

et al. 2022

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IntroductionAdolescents and young adults represent a vulnerable population in the context of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The present retrospective study aims to investigate the pandemic’s psychological impact on adolescents and young adults by analyzing data from an outpatient mental health service dedicated to youths in Umbria, central Italy.Materials and MethodsThe clinical charts of subjects aged 14–24 who first accessed the service in the timeframe between March 1st, 2019, and February 28th, 2021, were reviewed. Subjects were divided into two subgroups according to the period of time when they accessed the service (pre-COVID-19 vs. during- COVID-19 outbreak). Bivariate analyses were performed using the Chi-square test and the Welch’s t-test. A secondary analysis was performed considering only subjects suffering from psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, data concerning individuals who were already followed by the service before the pandemic were analyzed by the McNemar’s test and the t-paired test to assess changes in treatment features.ResultsThe number of new accesses during the pandemic period remained stable. After the emergency onset, youths accessing the service showed a higher prevalence of anxiety disorders (p = 0.022). During the COVID-19 period, services were more frequently delivered by using a digital mental health approach (p = 0.001). Psychopharmacological treatment was more frequently prescribed among subjects that were referred to the service after the pandemic onset (p = 0.033). As for substance use, a highly significant reduction in opioid use was observed (p = 0.003). Family therapy was delivered less frequently in the during-COVID-19 subgroup, especially in the subpopulation of subjects suffering from psychiatric disorders (p = 0.013). When considering subjects referred to the service in the pre-COVID-19 period, the number of interventions provided to this population increased after the pandemic outbreak (p = 0.038).ConclusionIn the context of the COVID-19-related public health crisis, youths represent an at-risk population for which pathways to care should be reinforced, and targeted interventions, including psychosocial treatments, should be implemented.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and Youth Psychopathological Distress in Umbria, Central Italy: A 2-Year Observational Study in a Real-World Setting

et al. 2022

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“…Many physicians and nurses themselves lost their lives treating their COVID patients or lost their own family members without any opportunity to mourn their loved ones. The medical staff faced vast numbers of patients every day who were dying from COVID-19 ( 2 , 3 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grief experience among ICU staff with loss of family members during COVID-19 outbreak in IRAN: A qualitative study

Nohesara¹,

Saeidi²,

Mosavari³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychiatry

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IntroductionThe COVID-19 crisis created a lot of problems in people's lives. Different lifestyles, mental health, communication, rituals and traditions, particularly those involved in mourning, have changed drastically. Medical staff faced numerous critically ill patients every day. This greatly distressed the staff, especially the ICU staff. The end result was considerable amounts of mental distress for the medical staff who lost family members to COVID-19 making the distress even more complex.MethodsWe carried out this qualitative research to study the grief experiences of 12 Iranian ICU staff members at the Rasoul Akram Hospital who had experienced the loss of a family member to the COVID-19 pandemic. We studied the effects of how their own grief experience and how constant exposure to critically ill patients influenced their work with patients. All semi-structured interviews were held in the presence of a faculty member of the psychiatry department of Iran University of Medical Sciences. The interview on the grief experience among ICU staff during the COVID-19 pandemic, consists of 4 issues: Familiarity, Experience during the COVID-19 pandemic, Grieving the loss of a family member and Effects of parallel grief.ResultsWe found five common themes in the result of the experiences of the participants based on content analysis. These consisted of: complex grieving process, new experiences for coping with loss, more empathy for patients, change the meaning of death, and the need for support in work places. Likewise, there were 22 sub themes.ConclusionPaying attention to the details of staff members' life, gender differences, and cultural aspects can give us a better understanding and perception of their grief experiences. This understanding brings out valuable points which can help policy makers pass better laws for the wellbeing of society and people in order to promote leadership in turbulent times.

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“…It seems that during the epidemic of COVID-19, most of the attention is directed toward the problems of hospital care, and the challenges of home care services have been paid less attention ( 14 ). Adiukwu et al believe task shifting to no specialist health workers to use of the available resources and technology has become the most viable strategy ( 15 ). Home care providers can serve as a supplemental component of healthcare services and significantly lighten the load on the health system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Home care in COVID-19 patients with the home-quarantined condition: A study from Iran

Afshari

Beheshtinasab

Maraghi

et al. 2022

Front. Public Health

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ObjectivesDuring the COVID-19 home-quarantines, home care services may act as an auxiliary component of health care system, which reduces the burden on the formal health care system. This study aimed to investigate the status of informal home care provided for home quarantined patients with COVID-19 in southwest Iran.MethodsThis descriptive study was conducted on 288 patients with COVID-19 in Ahvaz (southwest Iran). Inclusion criteria included a known case of COVID-19, willingness to participate in the study, recommendation of home quarantine from a health center, having a smartphone, and fluency in reading and writing in Persian, and the exclusion criterion was a history of COVID-19 longer than 3 months. The data collection method was structured interviews based on a questionnaire (face-to-face-telephone calls-video call). SPSS software was used for the analysis of data.Results45.5% of the participants in the study were women with a mean age of 37.82 (10.48%) and 55.5% were men with a mean age of 36.12 (11.93%). Findings showed that in most cases, the spouse (61.4) is responsible for the care of the patient, and in other cases, parents are responsible for this duty. 57.3% of the patients stated that they themselves had to leave home to provide for necessities of life, and 37.2% stated that they were in charge of cooking. 47.9% of the patients evaluated the quality of quality of care provided at home as good. Most of patients and caregivers referred to hospital for getting information (35.8% patients and 34% caregivers). Most of patients recovered from diseases (60.8%) and 39.2% were hospitalized. Although 43.9% of men and 33.6% of women were hospitalized and a there was a significant difference between men and women (P < 0.04).ConclusionDuring COVID-19 pandemic home care to reduce the burden on the health system are very important. We must also know that this type of care requires informed and planned support and sufficient community education. The health care system needs to put self-care and family care among its top priorities. The focus should be on educational and mental support of informal caregivers along with measures that protect their relatives from COVID-19.

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Scaling Up Global Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Cited by 27 publications

References 7 publications

COVID-19 and Youth Psychopathological Distress in Umbria, Central Italy: A 2-Year Observational Study in a Real-World Setting

COVID-19 and Youth Psychopathological Distress in Umbria, Central Italy: A 2-Year Observational Study in a Real-World Setting

Grief experience among ICU staff with loss of family members during COVID-19 outbreak in IRAN: A qualitative study

Home care in COVID-19 patients with the home-quarantined condition: A study from Iran

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