Beyond Burnout: Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic Challenges to Self-care.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This paper is a review of the self-care challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic on the physical and emotional health and well-being of healthcare providers. New self-care practices are presented. RECENT FINDINGS: Globally, thousands of health care practitioners and staff have been infected; many have died. Research studies reveal that this pandemic has threatened the health of healthcare staff, their families, and communities in many unique ways, such as fear of infecting family (lack of safety at home), moral injury, witnessing the suffering of the "innocent," coping with a problem too big to solve (the enormity problem), and racial trauma. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the global population in ways not seen in a century. The unique self-care challenges of COVID-19 while enhancing the symptoms of burnout, i.e., physical, and mental exhaustion, despair, helplessness, and suicidal thinking, need to be addressed directly. This paper offers a new COVID-19 self-care model and approach.

The Role of Telemental Health, Tele-consultation, and Tele-supervision in Post-disaster and Low-resource Settings.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The goal of this paper was to review recent literature and provide recommendations regarding the use of telemental health, with a focus on tele-consultation and tele-supervision in post-disaster and low-resource settings, including the impact of COVID-19. RECENT FINDINGS: The latest research on mental health needs in low-resource settings has identified a high need for mental health services for difficult-to-reach and underserved populations. Research on tele-consultation and tele-supervision was reviewed and found that tele-consultation and tele-supervision to be an effective modality for insuring quality mental health care delivery in low-resource settings. Additionally, two case studies were included which illustrate the use of both tele-consultation and tele-supervision in low-resource low- and middle-income settings. The paper concludes that tele-consultation and tele-supervision hold the promise to narrow the gap in quality mental health services in low-resource settings so often impacted by disaster and conflict. The authors recommend that telemental health training be developed that specifically enhances consultants' and supervisors' skills in tele-consultation and tele-supervision.

Leveraging Technology in Post-Disaster Settings: the Role of Digital Health/Telemental Health.

THE PURPOSE REVIEW: This paper will review the literature on global disasters and the mental health impact of disasters, and discuss the use of digital health/telemental health in providing care in post-disaster settings. RECENT FINDINGS: Global disasters, natural and manmade, are on the rise. As a consequence, there are increases in the health and mental health impact in the affected populations. We examine the literature on the health and mental health impact of disasters and the role of digital health/telemental health in response to meeting those needs. We examine the use of digital health/telemental health in two case examples, one of a natural disaster and one of a man-made disaster. Finally, we examine a blended telemental health model for collaboration between mental health and primary care providers in post-disaster settings. Digital health/telemental health is positioned on the cusp of the technology explosion, thus bringing much needed medical and mental health care to previously under-served populations.

High Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Relation to Social Factors in Affected Population One Year after the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster.

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated post-traumatic stress symptoms in relation to the population affected by the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster, one year after the disaster. Additionally, we investigated social factors, such as forced displacement, which we hypothesize contributed to the high prevalence of post-traumatic stress. Finally, we report of written narratives that were collected from the impacted population. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), questionnaires were sent to 2,011 households of those displaced from Fukushima prefecture living temporarily in Saitama prefecture. Of the 490 replies; 350 met the criteria for inclusion in the study. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to examine several characteristics and variables of social factors as predictors of probable post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. RESULTS: The mean score of IES-R was 36.15±21.55, with 59.4% having scores of 30 or higher, thus indicating a probable PTSD. No significant differences in percentages of high-risk subjects were found among sex, age, evacuation area, housing damages, tsunami affected, family split-up, and acquaintance support. By the result of multiple logistic regression analysis, the significant predictors of probable PTSD were chronic physical diseases (OR = 1.97), chronic mental diseases (OR = 6.25), worries about livelihood (OR = 2.27), lost jobs (OR = 1.71), lost social ties (OR = 2.27), and concerns about compensation (OR = 3.74). CONCLUSION: Although there are limitations in assuming a diagnosis of PTSD based on self-report IES-R, our findings indicate that there was a high-risk of PTSD strongly related to the nuclear disaster and its consequent evacuation and displacement. Therefore, recovery efforts must focus not only on medical and psychological treatment alone, but also on social and economic issues related to the displacement, as well.

A review of telemental health in international and post-disaster settings.

Telemental health (TMH) is an important component in meeting critical mental health needs of the global population. Mental health is an issue of global importance; an estimated 450 million people worldwide have mental or behavioural disorders, accounting for 12% of the World Health Organization's (WHO) global burden of disease. However, it is reported that 75% of people suffering from mental disorders in the Developing World receive no treatment or care. In this paper, the authors review global mental health needs with a focus on the use of TMH to meet mental health needs in international and post-disaster settings. Telemedicine and TMH have the capacity to bring evidence-based best practices in medicine and mental health to the under-served and difficult to reach areas of the world, including post-disaster settings. The authors will also report on the mental health impact of the Haiti 2010 earthquake and on the limited use of telemedicine in post-disaster Haiti. The paper will underscore the point that published papers on the use of TMH in post-disaster settings are lacking. Finally, the paper will review considerations before working in TMH in international and post-disaster settings.

Provider barriers to telemental health: obstacles overcome, obstacles remaining.

Many providers are hesitant to use telemental health technologies. When providers are queried, various barriers are presented, such as the clinician's skepticism about the effectiveness of telemental health (TMH), viewing telehealth technologies as inconvenient, or reporting difficulties with medical reimbursement. Provider support for TMH is critical to its diffusion because clinicians often serve as the initial gatekeepers to telehealth implementation and program success. In this article, we address provider concerns in three broad domains: (1) personal barriers, (2) clinical workflow and technology barriers, and (3) licensure, credentialing, and reimbursement barriers. We found evidence that, although many barriers have been discussed in the literature for years, advancements in TMH have rapidly reduced obstacles for its use. Improvements include extensive opportunities for training, a growing evidence base supporting positive TMH outcomes, and transformations in technologies that improve provider convenience and transmission quality. Recommendations for further change are discussed within each domain. In particular, it is important to grow and disseminate data underscoring the promise and effectiveness of TMH, integrate videoconferencing capabilities into electronic medical record platforms, expand TMH reimbursement, and modify licensure standards.