What mental health experts in Slovakia are learning from COVID-19 pandemic?

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Slovakia on 6th March 2020. To date of paper submission, it has very favorable course. However, since the beginning healthcare workers have been working under increasing pressure, anxiety and fear. Aim: Authors evaluated the psychosocial impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health experts and their clinical practice in Slovakia. Materials and Methods: A total of 157 mental health experts (79% women) submitted their responses via online questionnaire. Results: The most frequent occupation categories were 38.2% outpatient psychiatrists, 26.1% inpatient psychiatrists and 20.4% psychologists. The mental health experts felt maximum of stress during the peak of Slovak COVID-19 crisis, which was identified as the situation just after the declaring the state of emergency by Slovak government. The main sources of stress were statistical data, prognoses and other public presented information. Mental health experts felt mainly personal stress, then general and working stress. They identified also pathological effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental status of their patients, especially with anxiety and affective disorders and advantages of use of telemedicine. Conclusion: Psychosocial support in Slovakia was newly organized in COVID-19 pandemic for medical professionals, patients and other inhabitants under high stress within a very short time. This unexpected situation has revealed to Slovakia the need for reform of the mental healthcare system.

Implementation, Adoption, and Perceptions of Telemental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review

“…A number of studies also reported that telemental health enabled some groups to access care who found it difficult to engage with face-to-face support (eg, [ 7 ]). Some clinicians reported that they would also be willing to continue with some aspects of remote care in the future (eg, [ 43 , 77 ]). However, it is important to note that while acceptability was high overall, this was not the case for all groups; for example, Grover et al [ 71 ] reported acceptability rates of around 45% for both clinicians and service users using services in a range of settings in India.…”

Implementation, adoption and perceptions of telemental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review

“…Some clinicians reported that they would also be willing to continue with some aspects of remote care in the future e.g. (44, 78). However, it is important to note that whilst acceptability was high overall, this was not the case for all groups e.g.…”

Implementation, Adoption, and Perceptions of Telemental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review (Preprint)

“…Service users (n=121) Eating disorders NA Survey on the impact of the pandemic for people diagnosed with an eating disorder Fernandez et al [63] Staff Mixed V, P Exploration of the impact of the pandemic on mental health nurses Foye et al [64] Staff (n=1196) NA V, P Exploration of the impact of the pandemic on music therapy professionals Gaddy et al [65] Service users Mixed V, P, TM Exploration of the experiences of people with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic Gillard et al [66] Service users Substance abuse P Description and review of the implementation of remote working in an addiction outpatient service Gomet et al [67] Service users (n=365) Child and adolescent eating disorders V, P, M Exploration of the impact of the pandemic on a child and adolescent eating disorders service Graell et al [68] Service users Psychosis and bipolar P, TM Evaluation of the monitoring of patients with schizophrenia on clozapine during the pandemic Grover et al [69] Staff (n=396) Mixed V, P Evaluation of the impact of the pandemic on mental health services in India Grover et al [70] Staff (n=109) Mixed V, P Evaluation the impact of the pandemic on mental health services in India Grover et al [71] Service users (n=28) Mixed M Evaluation of the satisfaction of patients with telepsychiatry due to the pandemic Haxhihamza et al [72] NA General population V, P, M, O Evaluation of a psychological intervention program He et al [73] Staff and service users Mixed V Description of the development of a virtual program for an acute psychiatric population Hom et al [74] Staff (n=338) NA V, P, E, M Survey of psychotherapists' views on working during the pandemic Humer et al [75] Staff (n=1547) NA V Survey of psychotherapists view on the use of the internet during the pandemic Humer et al [76] Staff (n=157) NA V, P Survey of the impact of the pandemic on mental health experts Izakova et al [77] Staff (n=2180) Mixed V, P, M Survey of the experiences of mental health staff during the pandemic Johnson et al [7] Staff (n=8) Mixed V, P, M Exploration of how the pandemic affected mental health services Jurcik et al [78] Staff (n=21) Posttraumatic stress disorder V, P, M Description of services changes in a trauma service during the pandemic Khanna et al [79] NA (description of service change) Mixed V, P Description of the transition to telehealth in a community mental health service Kopec et al [80] Service users (n=60) Dementia V, P Evaluation of the benefits of telehealth to people with dementia and their carers Lai et al [81] Staff (n=28) Personality disorder V, P, M Exploration of providing dialectical behavior therapy us...…”

“…[ Example references Findings CFIR domain [50,62,77,86,98,116] • A commonly reported issue was access to technology, particularly among service users with diagnoses such as schizophrenia, service users with a lower socioeconomic status, and older adults (one study mentioned that older adults often lacked access to video software, so preferred phone calls).…”

“…Slovakia CMHT and outpatient services; inpatient mental health service Izakova et al [77] • Clinician views: A majority (n=818, 74.0% of respondents) agreed/strongly agreed that video calls were suitable to assess progress of existing service users, but only 39.8% (n=442) agreed/strongly agreed that they were suitable for making the initial assessments. A majority (n=725, 65.8%) agreed/strongly agreed that use of remote care had resulted in not having contact with some service users who had not engaged with remote appointments.…”