Ethical Considerations for Community Based Psychosocial Accompaniment: Towards a Strengthened Mental Health Response amidst Covid-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in the early months of 2020 thwarted and continues to disrupt the strides made in the provision of health services including mental health. Mental health stability is vital to personal wellbeing, the building of relationships and the making of notable contributions to society. This paper sought to situate the importance of psychosocial accompaniment within the community as one of the strategies of responding to mental health challenges that are usually compounded by stigma and discrimination. Content analysis of relational actions prompted by the infectious Covid-19 pandemic formed the basis of this article. Ethical considerations of justice and mutual trust are advanced as foundational values in a community of relations that can easily and practically respond to mental health instability amidst contagious epidemics. The study employed reported experiences of distress emanating from life disruptions that significantly led to poorer mental health in order to urge for psychosocial accompaniment that is founded within the community level. Close relations within the community are lauded as a practical strategy of enhancing and strengthening mental health response amidst contagious pandemics, such as Covid-19.