Organizing Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Services for COVID-19 at a Tertiary Care Center in India

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is associated with mental health consequences in patients diagnosed as having the disease, their contacts, healthcare workers, and also in the general community because of fear of getting the infection. Organizing mental health services in a big general hospital, especially in the background of diversion of many services including the workforce for pandemic-related services is a big challenge. The paper discusses the personal experience of the author in organizing mental health and psychosocial support services at a tertiary care teaching medical institution in India in the background of the COVID-19 pandemic. The services were targeted at the population visiting the hospital, healthcare workers, persons being quarantined, caregivers of patients with COVID-19 and the community in general. Some guidance notes were also developed for the physicians dealing with persons with COVID-19-related concerns and for psychiatrists in dealing with their patients. The strategy employed has a scope of being used at other similar institutions and also in similar situations arising in the future.