Analysis on the Application Effect of Psychological Counseling for COVID-19 Patients

The COVID-19 outbreak is a global emergency. The consequences of the pandemic were numerous. Mental health and psychosocial support services have been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Innovative solutions such as tele-consultations, digital self - help platforms, novel approaches to ensure supply of psychotropic medicines, and task sharing/shifting for basic psychosocial support, are being used to defeat service disruptions and maintain care for those with psychological conditions.

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What support do frontline workers want? A qualitative study of health and social care workers’ experiences and views of psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0256454 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (9) ◽

pp. e0256454

Author(s):

Jo Billings ◽

Nada Abou Seif ◽

Siobhan Hegarty ◽

Tamara Ondruskova ◽

Emilia Soulios ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Support Services ◽

Social Care ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Structured Interview ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Frontline Staff ◽

Frontline Workers ◽

Care Workers ◽

Health And Social Care

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a significant burden on the mental health and wellbeing of frontline health and social care workers. The need to support frontline staff has been recognised. However, there is to date little research specifically on how best to support the mental health needs of frontline workers, and none on their own experiences and views about what might be most helpful. Aims We set out to redress this research gap by qualitatively exploring UK frontline health and social care workers’ own experiences and views of psychosocial support during the pandemic. Method Frontline health and social care workers were recruited purposively through social media and by snowball sampling via healthcare colleagues. Workers who volunteered to take part in the study were interviewed remotely following a semi-structured interview guide. Transcripts of the interviews were analysed by the research team following the principles of Reflexive Thematic Analysis. Results We conducted 25 interviews with frontline workers from a variety of professional groups working in health and social care settings across the UK. Themes derived from our analysis showed that workers’ experiences and views about psychosocial support were complex. Peer support was many workers’ first line of support but could also be experienced as a burden. Workers were ambivalent about support shown by organisations, media and the public. Whilst workers valued psychological support services, there were many disparities in provision and barriers to access. Conclusions The results of this study show that frontline health and social care workers are likely to need a flexible system of support including peer, organisational and professional support. More research is needed to fully unpack the structural, systemic and individual barriers to accessing psychosocial support. Greater collaboration, consultation and co-production of support services and their evaluation is warranted.

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Migrants in Austria and their understanding of mental health issues

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckz186.019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽

Author(s):

M Weigl ◽

S Gaiswinkler ◽

H Wolf ◽

H Haider

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Support Services ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Reference Group ◽

Health Issues ◽

Psychosocial Needs ◽

Migrant Communities ◽

Mental Health Issues ◽

Wide Range

Abstract Psychosocial needs are common among migrants but their use of mental health services is not. Little is known about the understanding of mental health issues by migrants and their perception of mental health services. The study aims to provide a basis for further developments of the mental health system to contribute to health equity in the long term. Qualitative research: literature review, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. 54 migrants from Afghanistan, Somalia, arabic-speaking countries and Turkey and 16 experts were involved. Access was gained through cooperating with an institution offering various health services in different languages and well-known by migrant communities. Migrants from Turkey with long residence in Austria and linked to psychosocial services were chosen as reference group. There are many similarities among socio-economically disadvantaged people in terms of their understanding of mental health and their willingness to seek and accept support. However, differences can also be observed which are related to country of origin or gender, but also to acculturation status, current life situation or previous experiences within the home or the receiving country. The Turkish reference group shows, that mental health issues are given higher priority in the course of time. To quicken this process, targeted measures for the promotion of health literacy are decisive, but also integration possibilities and the social climate. With a wide range of access and psychosocial support options, attitudes like openness, impartiality and flexibility among health professionals, it is possible to reach migrants with psychosocial needs. A stronger exchange on how people with a migration background and psychosocial needs are perceived and reached is needed. But also activities to increase the diversity of support services and to carry information about mental health issues as well as the existing services into the migrant communities Key messages Specific activities can improve the knowledge about mental health issues within migrant communities. A wide range of access and psychosocial support services is needed to address the diversity.

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Mental health and psychosocial support services in primary health care in Nepal: perceived facilitating factors, barriers and strategies for improvement

BMC Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s12888-020-2476-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nawaraj Upadhaya ◽

Upasana Regmi ◽

Dristy Gurung ◽

Nagendra P. Luitel ◽

Inge Petersen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Care ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Support Services ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Facilitating Factors ◽

Primary Health

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COVID-19 and Psychosocial Support Services: Experiences of People Living with Enduring Mental Health Conditions

Community Mental Health Journal ◽

10.1007/s10597-021-00871-0 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Anne Honey ◽

Shifra Waks ◽

Monique Hines ◽

Helen Glover ◽

Nicola Hancock ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Support Services ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Service Evaluation ◽

Health Conditions ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Support Worker ◽

Living Situation ◽

Mental Health Conditions

AbstractThis paper uses secondary analysis to understand how COVID-19 shaped people’s experiences with psychosocial support services in Australia. Data are drawn from questionnaires (n = 66) and semi-structured interviews (n = 62), conducted for a national service evaluation, with 121 people living with enduring mental health conditions and using psychosocial support services. Data relating to COVID-19 were inductively coded and analysed using constant comparative analysis. Most people’s experiences included tele-support. While some people described minimal disruption to their support, many reported reduced engagement. People’s wellbeing and engagement were influenced by: their location, living situation and pre-COVID lifestyles; physical health conditions; access to, comfort with, and support worker facilitation of technology; pre-COVID relationships with support workers; and communication from the organisation. The findings can help services prepare for future pandemics, adjust their services for a ‘COVID-normal’ world, and consider how learnings from COVID-19 could be incorporated into a flexible suite of service delivery options.

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Psychosocial support services provided for Syrian refugees with disabilities: a systematic review and thematic analysis

Middle East Current Psychiatry ◽

10.1186/s43045-021-00144-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Ali M. Alodat ◽

Hanan I. Alshagran ◽

Al-Muatasem M. Al-Bakkar

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Systematic Review ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

Support Services ◽

English Language ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Well Being ◽

Syrian Refugees

AbstractThis study systematically reviewed and thematically analyzed studies that investigated psychosocial support services provided to Syrian refugees with disabilities between 2011 and 2020. Nine studies published in the English language were identified from database searches (Google Scholar, PsychInfo, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, and Scopus). Results showed that the forms of psychosocial support services provided to Syrian refugees with disabilities were varied based on the nature of the study and the disability type. The results also provided detailed information about methods, participants, and findings of the identified studies. The thematic analysis results identified six themes that represent the factors related to the psychosocial support services, which were assessment, mental health, psychological well-being, rehabilitation, social participation, and vulnerability. This study provided a set of recommendations that may improve the quality of mental health and psychosocial support services provided to Syrian refugees with disabilities and their families, which are professional development, researches, and policy reforming.

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Panel 2.6: Mental and Psychosocial Effects of the Tsunami on the Affected Populations

Prehospital and Disaster Medicine ◽

10.1017/s1049023x00003010 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 20 (6) ◽

pp. 414-419 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

M.L. Somchai Chakrabhan ◽

Vijay Chandra ◽

Itzhak Levav ◽

Wachira Pengjuntr ◽

Dinesh Bhugra ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Health Services ◽

Support Services ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

World Health ◽

Gap Filling ◽

Psychosocial Effects ◽

Tsunami Disaster ◽

The World ◽

Health Organization

AbstractThis is a summary of the presentations and discussion of Panel 2.6, Mental and Psychosocial Effects of the Tsunami on the Affected Populations of the Conference, Health Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Phuket, Thailand, 04–06 May 2005. The topics discussed included issues related to mental and psychological aspects as pertaining to the damage created by the Tsunami. It is presented in the following major sections: (1) responses; (2) needs assessment; (3) coordination; (4) gap filling; (5) capacity building; (6) stakeholder agreement; and (7) conclusions and recommendations. In the responses discussion, issues included: (1) psychosocial support services; (2) mental health services; and (3) the Thai respoonse. Subsections in the stakeholder agreement section include: (1) public-private partnerships; and (2) preparedness.

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Conducting research on building psychosocial support for Syrian refugee families in a humanitarian emergency

Conflict and Health ◽

10.1186/s13031-021-00365-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Stevan Merill Weine ◽

Aliriza Arënliu ◽

Vahdet Görmez ◽

Scott Lagenecker ◽

Hakan Demirtas

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Research Team ◽

Psychosocial Support ◽

Common Mental Disorders ◽

Emergency Setting ◽

Task Sharing ◽

Humanitarian Emergency ◽

Refugee Families ◽

Conducting Research

AbstractBackgroundThis case study describes research, which is located in Turkey, where more than 750,000 Syrian refugees reside autonomously in Istanbul. The research developed and pilot tested a novel model for helping urban refugee families with limited to no access to evidence-based mental health services, by delivering a transdiagnostic family intervention for common mental disorders in health and non-health sector settings using a task-sharing approach. This case study addresses the following question: What challenges were encountered in developing and piloting a low intensity trans-diagnostic family support intervention in a humanitarian emergency setting?DiscussionThe rapidly growing scale of humanitarian crises requires new response capabilities geared towards addressing populations with prolonged high vulnerability to mental health consequences and limited to no access to mental health, health, and social resources.The research team faced multiple challenges in conducting this research in a humanitarian emergency setting including: 1) Non-existent or weak partnerships geared towards mental health research in a humanitarian emergency; 2) Lack of familiarity with task-sharing; 3).Insufficient language and cultural competency; 3) Fit with families’ values and demands; 4) Hardships of urban refugees. Through the research process, the research team learned lessons concerning: 1) building a coalition of academic and humanitarian organization partners; 2) investing in the research capacity building of local researchers and partners; 3) working in a community-collaborative and multi-disciplinary approach.ConclusionConducting research in humanitarian emergency settings calls for innovative collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches to understanding and addressing many sociocultural, contextual, practical and scientific challenge.

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