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Virtual training for health workers to assist with COVID-19 mental health challenges
Health care workers to undergo virtual mental health training for COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Health Dr Frank Anthony.
Kaieteur News – A three weeks virtual training is underway to help health workers better respond to the mental health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The training which was launched on Monday is targeting doctors and nurses to equip and inform them on how to respond to the mental and emotional stress resulting from COVID-19.
The exercise will be facilitated by representatives in PAHO/WHO and local mental specialists in Guyana. During the launch, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony underscored that while the importance of mental health is often ignored, it is vital to the physical health and wellbeing of society.
“As a result of ignoring this vital facet of health, we do not have enough qualified personnel to adequately diagnose, people with mental health vulnerabilities and the current pandemic has now exacerbated these problems,” Dr. Anthony said at the virtual launch.
He explained that the threat of infection, repeated lockdowns, curfews, social isolation and economic uncertainty have created widespread fear and anxiety.
The Minister noted that as a result, “Many studies have shown the adverse psychological effects of enforced institutional quarantines and isolation.”
In addition to the real or perceived challenges of the pandemic, Minister Anthony stressed that there is also an infodemic. He explained that “this phenomenon is characterized by a flood of fake news and misinformation that is spread on social media and other outlets, it travels faster and further and the erroneous message is quickly amplified. These false messages have catalysed to raise people’s anxiety and fears and have become a real threat in disrupting our public health programmes.”
The Health Minister noted further that a WHO survey found that, people with pre-existing severe and enduring mental health conditions have been most affected by COVID-19-related disruptions of mental healthcare systems.
According to Dr. Anthony, “Neurologic and psychiatric symptoms have also been reported among patients who have recovered from acute COVID-19. High rates of anxiety and depression have been reported in some patients using self-report scales for psychiatric distress.
Globally, younger patients have been reported to experience more psychiatric symptoms than patients aged 60 years. Patients may continue to experience headaches, vision changes, hearing loss, loss of taste or smell, impaired mobility, numbness in extremities, tremors, myalgia, memory loss, cognitive impairment, and mood changes for up to 3 months after diagnosis of COVID-19, he said noting that health-care worker themselves, who also face a greater risk of infection, stigmatization, and stressful workloads have psychological repercussions.”
As such, the Minister noted that the course will teach healthcare workers how to cope with stress, how to detect people with mental health vulnerabilities and how to counsel and assist them through these challenges.
“We hope that at the end of the course that you will be better prepared to provide a mental health response to the pandemic and the infodemic,” Dr. Anthony stated.
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