Shifting to Tele-Mental Health in humanitarian and crisis settings: an evaluation of Médecins Sans Frontières experience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Ibragimov, Khasan; Palma, Miguel; Keane, Gregory; Ousley, Janet; Crowe, Madeleine; Carreño, Cristina; Casas, Germán; Mills, Clair; Llosa, Augusto E.

doi:10.1186/s13031-022-00437-1

Cited by 14 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Studies describing these clinical groups report a higher prevalence of certain diagnoses (eg, schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder) [ 84 ], while others indicated several barriers, such as lack of digital literacy or confidence to make full use of a telephone, and lack of an appropriate device or broadband required to connect with clinicians [ 105 ]. In resource-limited settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health staff working for Médecins Sans Frontières used audio-only platforms for 80% of TMH care interventions [ 106 ]. Despite this, over half of the patients were unreachable using these interventions, mainly due to poor network coverage, lack of communication devices, or lack of a private space at home [ 106 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In resource-limited settings during the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health staff working for Médecins Sans Frontières used audio-only platforms for 80% of TMH care interventions [ 106 ]. Despite this, over half of the patients were unreachable using these interventions, mainly due to poor network coverage, lack of communication devices, or lack of a private space at home [ 106 ]. For these patients, specific provision of a device or broadband might be necessary.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Global Delivery of Mental Health Services and Telemental Health: Systematic Review

Zangani¹,

Ostinelli²,

Smith³

et al. 2022

JMIR Ment Health

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Background The COVID-19 pandemic required mental health services around the world to adapt quickly to the new restrictions and regulations put in place to reduce the risk of transmission. As face-to-face contact became difficult, virtual methods were implemented to continue to safely provide mental health care. However, it is unclear to what extent service provision transitioned to telemental health worldwide. Objective We aimed to systematically review the global research literature on how mental health service provision adapted during the first year of the pandemic. Methods We searched systematically for quantitative papers focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health services published until April 13, 2021, in the PubMed, Embase, medRxiv, and bioXriv electronic bibliographic databases, using the COVID-19 Open Access Project online platform. The screening process and data extraction were independently completed by at least two authors, and any disagreement was resolved by discussion with a senior member of the team. The findings were summarized narratively in the context of each country’s COVID-19 Stringency Index, which reflects the stringency of a government’s response to COVID-19 restrictions at a specific time. Results Of the identified 24,339 records, 101 papers were included after the screening process. Reports on general services (n=72) showed that several countries’ face-to-face services reduced their activities at the start of the pandemic, with reductions in the total number of delivered visits and with some services forced to close. In contrast, telemental health use rapidly increased in many countries across the world at the beginning of the pandemic (n=55), with almost complete virtualization of general and specialistic care services by the end of the first year. Considering the reported COVID-19 Stringency Index values, the increased use of virtual means seems to correspond to periods when the Stringency Index values were at their highest in several countries. However, due to specific care requirements, telemental health could not be used in certain subgroups of patients, such as those on clozapine or depot treatments and those who continued to need face-to-face visits. Conclusions During the pandemic, mental health services had to adapt quickly in the short term, implementing or increasing the use of telemental health services across the globe. Limited access to digital means, poor digital skills, and patients’ preferences and individual needs may have contributed to differences in implementing and accessing telemental health services during the pandemic. In the long term, a blended approach, combining in-person and virtual modalities, that takes into consideration the needs, preferences, and digital skills of patients may better support the future development of mental health services. It will be required to improve confidence with digital device use, training, and experience in all modalities for both clinicians and service users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Global Delivery of Mental Health Services and Telemental Health: Systematic Review

Zangani¹,

Ostinelli²,

Smith³

et al. 2022

JMIR Ment Health

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“…Tele psychiatry is used to follow patients and reduce any unnecessary travel [ 66 ], which can be used as an alternative method to face-to-face therapy, especially in the COVID-19 crisis [ 67 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in children: a review and suggested solutions

Karbasi

Eslami

2022

Middle East Curr Psychiatry

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Background The outbreak of coronavirus began in China in December 2019. It became a pandemic and a public health emergency. There have been numerous reports related to post-traumatic stress disorder outbreaks in the COVID-19 crisis. After a natural disaster, children are at a higher risk for post-traumatic stress disorder. The current study is a review of the scientific literature on the effect of COVID-19 on the prevalence of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in children. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases until February 02, 2022. The search strategy was based on a combination of the following keywords “child,” “COVID-19,” and “post-traumatic stress disorder.” Results By searching the Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed databases, 173 articles were retrieved. After reviewing the inclusion criteria and in terms of eligibility, 10 articles met the inclusion criteria out of the remaining 46 articles. Based on the findings, 80% of the articles were cross-sectional and 20% of them were longitudinal. The articles reviewed in this study reported an increase in the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in children during or after the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions In summary, the findings of this review showed that restrictions and fears of COVID-19 had negative psychological effects on children. As well, one of the most important issues that arose at the time of the tragedy was that children were suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Given that post-traumatic stress disorder can be treated, it is essential to choose the appropriate therapeutic intervention approach in order to better deal with the negative effects in children.

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“…In low-resource settings, attempts to use tele-mental health services to reach underserved groups were found to be feasible but were not necessarily suitable for all types of patients and situations [ 34 ]. A large-scale meta-analytic atlas including 173 studies (n = 502,261 individuals) and investigating mental health problems during the COVID pandemic reported that anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic symptoms were more prevalent in LMICs, although this was not specifically a study of HCWs [ 35 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental Health Support for Hospital Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Characteristics of the Services and Feedback from the Providers

et al. 2022

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French authorities created mental health support services to accompany HCWs during the pandemic. We aimed to obtain feedback from staff providing these mental health support services within French hospitals to identify positive and negative features and avenues for improvement. A mixed-methods study was performed between 1 April and 30 June 2020. We contacted 77 centres to identify those providing mental health support services. We developed a questionnaire containing questions about the staff providing the service (quantitative part), with open questions to enable feedback from service providers (qualitative part). Of the 77 centres, 36 had mental health support services; 77.8% were created specifically for the epidemic. Services were staffed principally by psychologists, mainly used a telephone platform, and had a median opening time of 8 h/day. Thirty-seven professionals provided feedback, most aged 35–49 years. For 86.5%, it was their first time providing such support. Median self-reported comfort level was 8 (interquartiles 3–10), and 95% would do it again. Respondents reported (i) difficulties with work organisation, clinical situations, and lack of recognition and (ii) a desire for training. This study suggests that mental health support needs to be adapted to the needs of HCWs, both in terms of the content of the service and the timing of delivery.

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Shifting to Tele-Mental Health in humanitarian and crisis settings: an evaluation of Médecins Sans Frontières experience during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 14 publications

References 27 publications

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Global Delivery of Mental Health Services and Telemental Health: Systematic Review

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Global Delivery of Mental Health Services and Telemental Health: Systematic Review

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic in children: a review and suggested solutions

Mental Health Support for Hospital Staff during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Characteristics of the Services and Feedback from the Providers

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