New Normal Context in Health Care Settings after COVID-19 Pandemic: A Narrative Literature Review

Abstract

COVID-19 is an infectious disease that rapidly developed into a pandemic status. This deemed a need for new strategies to carry out routine health care activities. The recent practices and adaptations of the system as a response to the pandemic status were called a new normal situation. The aim of the study was to describe principles for adaptation to a new normal context for health care settings in COVID-19 pandemic. This narrative review of literature was conducted based on policy documents, guidelines, and public notices issued by the government and other key policymakers from the United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, and Canada between June 15, 2020, and July 15, 2020, available on their government websites. The study revealed several principles, namely, enhanced surveillance, phasedown strategy for restoring routine services, vulnerability, dynamics of the service demand, new principles in human resource management, infection control measures, supply and usage of personal protective equipment, demand for intensive-care unit bed capacity, coordination and collaboration internally and externally, promotion and utility of remote care, ensuring equity, pre-hospital communication and assessment before reaching service facility, enhancing clinician participation in local-level decision-making, and risk assessments within all levels of service facility. The results of this study exposed new principles that facilitated managerial decision-making to the adaptation of new strategies. This new normal context created many challenges for resource management, which needed to consider dynamics of demand of services, prevention of spreading infections, and readiness for surge of cases while safeguarding quality and safety.

Transformation of Learning Input Factors in the New Normal Era Post-COVID-19

“…However, to start and revive the social and economic sector, people can continue their daily activities while maintaining social distance and personal hygiene [26]. These new system practices and adaptations in response to the pandemic status are called the new normal [4].…”

“…In the declining phase of the pandemic, many countries and health authorities are looking for alternative ways to adapt to new conditions, especially those related to the risk of COVID-19 transmission and requests for non-covid services. This new contextual situation is called the new normal era [4]. This new normal life can be interpreted as a life usually lived but with a new pattern, a new lifestyle related to the application of health protocols.…”

Outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Comorbid Patients

“…With the increase in our scientific knowledge and understanding on COVID-19 our outlook has changed and we are more capable of dealing with this pandemic with the new Norms. From the beginning of the pandemic, one notable difference between severe and mild-moderate cases of COVID-19 is the onset of excessive inflammation or a 'cytokine storm' in severe patients leading to multiple organ damage and a high mortality rate [25]. It is therefore suggested that more research is needed on the impact of treating patients with drugs to lower the levels of these enzyme proteins.…”