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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has not only impacted intensive care units, but all healthcare services generally. This PsyGipo2C project specifically investigates how psychiatry and mental health professionals have been affected by the reorganizations and constraints imposed, which have reshaped their often already difficult working conditions. METHODS: Our research combined quantitative and qualitative methods, surveying and interviewing health professionals of all occupations working in psychiatric and mental health services. A questionnaire was completed by 1241 professionals from 10 European countries, and 13 group interviews were conducted across 5 countries. In addition to this, 31 individual interviews were conducted in Belgium and France. RESULTS: Among the questionnaire respondents, 70.2% felt that their workload had increased, particularly due to their tasks being diversified and due to increased complexity in the provision of care. 48.9% felt that finding a work-life balance had become more difficult, and 59.5% felt their health had been affected by the crisis. The impact of the health crisis nevertheless varied across professions: our data provides insight into how the health measures have had a differential impact on professional tasks and roles across the various categories of occupations, obliging professionals to make various adaptations. The distress incurred has been linked not only to these new constraints in their work, but also to the combination of these with other pressures in their personal lives, which has consequently compromised their well-being and their ability to cope with multiple demands. DISCUSSION: The COVID-19 health crisis has had varying impacts depending on the profession and access to remote work, sometimes leading to conflicts within the teams. The suffering expressed by the professionals was tied to their values and patterns of investment in work. Our research also highlights how these professionals made little use of the psychological supports offered, probably due to a reluctance to acknowledge that their mental health was affected.
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COVID-19 , Servicios de Salud Mental , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiología , Pandemias , Ansiedad , Europa (Continente)/epidemiologíaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Driven by international programs specifically targeting neonatal survival, a set of recommended care practices is being promoted in West Africa. Using data from a multi-centered anthropological study, we enquire as to how local practices integrate the recommendations disseminated by these programs. METHOD: The surveys were conducted in rural localities in five countries : Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Togo. In every site, the investigations combined ethnography of newborn care and in-depth interviews in maternity homes and homes. RESULTS: The care of newborns is based on a set of local social representations and logics, where medical recommendations are integrated heterogeneously. In maternity wards, health professionals face difficulties in implementing recommended practices, and make various conciliations when faced with local material and social constraints. In private homes, the "messages" promoting life-saving care for newborns punctuate conversations, but lead to various interpretations and variations in care. DISCUSSION: The irregular integration of medical recommendations in neonatal care is analyzed around three areas: the divergence of intentions around the birth, the dissonances between the recommended care and the local conceptions of the newborn, the influence of intra-family power relations. Considering the complexity of the changes in neonatal care, we argue for the implementation of programs that respect local cultures, and for health professionals to skillfully accommodate conflicting constraints.
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Cuidado del Lactante/métodos , África Occidental , Antropología , Femenino , Guías como Asunto , Personal de Salud , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Embarazo , SobrevidaRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: In Mauritania, as in other West African countries, a series of actions has been taken to combat neonatal mortality. Considering the mixed success of these programs, we wondered how health workers are investing in neonatal care. METHOD: An anthropological study was carried out in a locality in the Senegal River Valley. The surveys consisted of an ethnography of a health center, which resulted in detailed observations of care and interviews with health workers. RESULTS: Our observations reveal that in the crucial minutes and hours following a normal birth, the attention of caregivers tends to turn away from the newborn. Recommended care such as keeping warm, examining and monitoring the newborn is not provided, while early breast-feeding occurs in a fluctuating manner. The newborn is quickly handed over to the family. Newborn care is thus "forgotten", both in the sequence of actions around childbirth and in the collective distribution of professional responsibilities. DISCUSSION: Newborn care at birth remains poorly medicalized. We analyze the least involvement of health workers with newborns in two aspects : the perception of the uncertainty of neonatal survival, and the predominance of local childbearing. We are making proposals to put the spotlight back on the newborn in order to promote a better quality of neonatal care.
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Actitud del Personal de Salud , Lactancia Materna , Cuidado del Lactante/métodos , Parto , Atención Perinatal/métodos , Calidad de la Atención de Salud , África Occidental , Antropología Cultural , Femenino , Humanos , Lactante , Cuidado del Lactante/psicología , Mortalidad Infantil , Recién Nacido , Mauritania , Relaciones Enfermero-Paciente , Embarazo , SenegalRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Driven by international programs specifically targeting neonatal survival, a set of recommended care practices is being promoted in West Africa. Using data from a multi-centered anthropological study, we enquire as to how local practices integrate the recommendations disseminated by these programs. METHOD: The surveys were conducted in rural localities in five countries : Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania, and Togo. In every site, the investigations combined ethnography of newborn care and in-depth interviews in maternity homes and homes. RESULTS: The care of newborns is based on a set of local social representations and logics, where medical recommendations are integrated heterogeneously. In maternity wards, health professionals face difficulties in implementing recommended practices, and make various conciliations when faced with local material and social constraints. In private homes, the "messages" promoting life-saving care for newborns punctuate conversations, but lead to various interpretations and variations in care. DISCUSSION: The irregular integration of medical recommendations in neonatal care is analyzed around three areas: the divergence of intentions around the birth, the dissonances between the recommended care and the local conceptions of the newborn, the influence of intra-family power relations. Considering the complexity of the changes in neonatal care, we argue for the implementation of programs that respect local cultures, and for health professionals to skillfully accommodate conflicting constraints.
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INTRODUCTION: In Mauritania, as in other West African countries, a series of actions has been taken to combat neonatal mortality. Considering the mixed success of these programs, we wondered how health workers are investing in neonatal care. METHOD: An anthropological study was carried out in a locality in the Senegal River Valley. The surveys consisted of an ethnography of a health center, which resulted in detailed observations of care and interviews with health workers. RESULTS: Our observations reveal that in the crucial minutes and hours following a normal birth, the attention of caregivers tends to turn away from the newborn. Recommended care such as keeping warm, examining and monitoring the newborn is not provided, while early breast-feeding occurs in a fluctuating manner. The newborn is quickly handed over to the family. Newborn care is thus "forgotten", both in the sequence of actions around childbirth and in the collective distribution of professional responsibilities. DISCUSSION: Newborn care at birth remains poorly medicalized. We analyze the least involvement of health workers with newborns in two aspects : the perception of the uncertainty of neonatal survival, and the predominance of local childbearing. We are making proposals to put the spotlight back on the newborn in order to promote a better quality of neonatal care.
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INTRODUCTION: To supply high-quality neonatal care, it is essential to provide adequate infrastructures and material. Exceeding the visible simplicity of this condition, we suggest analyzing finely the relationship between the arrangement of the care spaces in maternity, their uses, and the quality of the care delivered to the newborns. METHOD: An ethnographic investigation in ten hospitals of Cameroon, among which one by region chosen from the various levels of the sanitary pyramid, allowed us to examine how the arrangement of the sanitary spaces and the arrangement of the material could contribute to the vulnerability of the newborn in maternity wards. Two hundred observations of the care given at birth were transcribed, then used as support for interviews with healthcare professionals in the aims of explaining their actions. RESULTS: The sanitary spaces, with habits and modes of organization, do not optimize the quality of the care to the newborns. The fragmentation of places used in the coverage of the newborn children engenders delays in care in case of complication at the birth. The ways in which the space and material are used in the wards reveal a lack of anticipation and coordination of care. The appropriations of places and arrangement of equipment are not favorable to recommended neonatal care practices, in particular concerning the fight against the hypothermia and the promotion of early breast-feeding. Indeed, the spatial organization in maternity wards appears to be more centered on the obstetrical care. DISCUSSION: Reflecting on care spaces can provide a basis for local collective processes of improvement of newborn care practices. It allows to re-question the biomedical professional culture, the segmentation of the tasks and the techniques, and to durably anchor evolutions favorable to neonatal survival.
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Atención a la Salud/organización & administración , Servicios de Salud Materna/organización & administración , Obstetricia , Calidad de la Atención de Salud , Lactancia Materna , Camerún , Femenino , Humanos , Recién Nacido , EmbarazoRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: To supply high-quality neonatal care, it is essential to provide adequate infrastructures and material. Exceeding the visible simplicity of this condition, we suggest analyzing finely the relationship between the arrangement of the care spaces in maternity, their uses, and the quality of the care delivered to the newborns. METHOD: An ethnographic investigation in ten hospitals of Cameroon, among which one by region chosen from the various levels of the sanitary pyramid, allowed us to examine how the arrangement of the sanitary spaces and the arrangement of the material could contribute to the vulnerability of the newborn in maternity wards. Two hundred observations of the care given at birth were transcribed, then used as support for interviews with healthcare professionals in the aims of explaining their actions. RESULTS: The sanitary spaces, with habits and modes of organization, do not optimize the quality of the care to the newborns. The fragmentation of places used in the coverage of the newborn children engenders delays in care in case of complication at the birth. The ways in which the space and material are used in the wards reveal a lack of anticipation and coordination of care. The appropriations of places and arrangement of equipment are not favorable to recommended neonatal care practices, in particular concerning the fight against the hypothermia and the promotion of early breast-feeding. Indeed, the spatial organization in maternity wards appears to be more centered on the obstetrical care. DISCUSSION: Reflecting on care spaces can provide a basis for local collective processes of improvement of newborn care practices. It allows to re-question the biomedical professional culture, the segmentation of the tasks and the techniques, and to durably anchor evolutions favorable to neonatal survival.
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The World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding up to the age of six months and continuation of partial breastfeeding up to the age of two years, in addition to nutritionally adequate and safe food. In Mauritania, despite some progress, most mothers do not comply with these recommendations. The aim of this study, conducted in Nouakchott, was to evaluate breastfeeding and feeding practices, and measure factors associated with achievement of the optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding. The methodology combined quantitative and qualitative approaches. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted by questionnaires among 330 mothers from different departments of the capital. Twenty semi-structured interviews were then conducted with Mauritanian grandmothers in order to understand their roles and perceptions about infant feeding. Before the age of 6 months, the exclusive breastfeeding rate was 18.4%, the predominant breastfeeding rate was 44.3% and the partial breastfeeding with milk rate was 28.1%. In addition, 9.2% of infants received supplementary feeding. We found that 50.5% of mothers were aware of the optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding, but only 14.2% complied with this recommendation. The factors significantly associated with compliance with the optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding were maternal age over 35 years and multiparity. Interviews revealed that grandmothers knew about some of the nutritional recommendations, but denied their relevance based on their experience. Their advice contradicted certain medical recommendations. Our study revealed inadequacies concerning the mother's knowledge and more frequently their practices in terms of infant feeding. The gap between knowledge and practice can be essentially explained by the relative importance attributed to recommendations by the mothers, as well as the confrontation between medical recommendations and grandmothers' traditional knowledge.
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Lactancia Materna , Abuelos , Adolescente , Adulto , Lactancia Materna/estadística & datos numéricos , Estudios Transversales , Femenino , Guías como Asunto , Humanos , Lactante , Conducta Materna , Mauritania , Persona de Mediana Edad , Adulto JovenAsunto(s)
Actitud Frente a la Muerte , Neoplasias de la Mama/mortalidad , Neoplasias de la Mama/psicología , Familia/psicología , Personal de Salud/psicología , Islamismo/psicología , Cuidados Paliativos/psicología , Actitud del Personal de Salud , Aflicción , Femenino , Grupos Focales , Humanos , Mauritania , Persona de Mediana Edad , Pobreza/psicología , Investigación CualitativaRESUMEN
This article takes stock of the research work carried out in Europe over the period 2020-2022 by a multidisciplinary consortium of specialists in psychiatry and mental health that brings together university research laboratories, psychiatric hospitals, universities, and training centers. Our work focuses on the difficulties encountered by care and psycho-social support professionals during the COVID-19 period. These difficulties are individual and organizational to ensure a service of accompaniment and follow-up of psychiatric users. What synthesis can we achieve of our successes, our failures, our limitations, and for which avenues of work for the future? After presenting the methodological protocol, we conduct a self-critical reflection of the achievements in 3 main axes of analysis: 1. Evolution of working conditions in a context of uncertainty, 2. Organizational dimensions and hindered care, 3. Digital technologies. From these results emerges a set of controversies and ethical questions relating to the legitimacy of remote care, confidentiality and protection of personal data, and equity in access to care. It appears that the professional practices deployed during the COVID-19 health crisis question the way in which the organization of care and social support integrate the possibilities offered by digital applications. They are about promoting the autonomy and empowerment of mental health service users and professionals. From this perspective, the extension of this work develops a forward-looking approach included in Community digitization policies for new European projects. It appears necessary to carry out multidisciplinary in-depth work, by 2030 on hospital psychiatry and "outside the walls", the care pathway of the user, social support, digitalization, data management, and the training of professionals in technological changes.
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(1) Background: While inequalities in the prevalence of cancer, access to care, and survival have been well documented, less research has focused on inequalities in the uptake of supportive oncology care. Given its contribution to improving the quality of life of people affected by cancer, access to such care is a major public health issue. The present study focuses on the access and uptake of those supportive oncology care services. (2) Methods: This study is based on qualitative research methodology, using a thematic analysis tree on NVivo© analysis software. First, an exploratory survey was conducted with users of oncology services, and professionals from these services and supportive oncology care. Then, individual interviews were conducted in June 2022 among people who are currently being treated or have been treated for cancer. (3) Results: The experiences of the 33 respondents revealed that significant variations in the uptake of supportive oncology care are underpinned by identifiable disparities in their healthcare pathways: in their assimilation of information, difficulties in accessing oncology care, personal reluctance and motivations, perceived needs and benefits, and use of other medicines. (4) Conclusion: This study aims to gain some insight into disparities in the uptake of supportive care in the Centre-Val de Loire region (France). Thus, it provides a better understanding of the complex ways in which these inequalities in supportive oncology care uptake are constructed.
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Akkermansia muciniphila is a well-known bacterium with the ability to degrade mucin. This metabolic capability is believed to play an important role in the colonization of this bacterium in the gut. In this study, we report the identification and characterization of a novel Akkermansia sp. DSM 33459 isolated from human feces of a healthy donor. Phylogenetic analysis based on the genome-wide average nucleotide identity indicated that the Akkermansia sp. DSM 33459 has only 87.5% similarity with the type strain A. muciniphila ATCC BAA-835. Akkermansia sp. DSM 33459 showed significant differences in its fatty acid profile and carbon utilization as compared to the type strain. The Akkermansia sp. DSM 33459 strain was tested in a preclinical obesity model to determine its effect on metabolic markers. Akkermansia sp. DSM 33459 showed significant improvement in body weight, total fat weight, and resistin and insulin levels. Interestingly, these effects were more pronounced with the live form as compared to a pasteurized form of the strain. The strain showed production of agmatine, suggesting a potential novel mechanism for supporting metabolic and cognitive health. Based on its phenotypic features and phylogenetic position, it is proposed that this isolate represents a novel species in the genus Akkermansia and a promising therapeutic candidate for the management of metabolic diseases.
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Akkermansia , Verrucomicrobia , Animales , Dieta , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Ratones , Obesidad/microbiología , FilogeniaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has required psychiatric and mental health professionals to change their practices to reduce the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, in particular by favoring remote monitoring and assessment via digital technologies. OBJECTIVE: As part of a research project that was cofunded by the French National Research Agency (ARN) and the Centre-Val de Loire Region, the aim of this systematic literature review was to investigate how such uses of digital technologies have been developing. METHODS: This systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The search was carried out in the MEDLINE (ie, PubMed) and Cairn databases, as well as in a platform specializing in mental health, Ascodocpsy. The search yielded 558 results for the year 2020. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, first on titles and abstracts and then on full texts, 61 articles were included. RESULTS: The analysis of the literature revealed a heterogeneous integration of digital technologies, not only depending on countries, contexts, and local regulations, but also depending on the modalities of care. Notwithstanding these variations, the use of videoconferencing has developed significantly, affecting working conditions and therapeutic relationships. For many psychiatric and mental health professionals, the pandemic has been an opportunity to build up their experience of remote care and, thus, better identify the possibilities and limits of these digital technologies. CONCLUSIONS: New uses of such technologies essentially consist of a transition from the classic consultation model toward teleconsultation and make less use of the specific potential of artificial intelligence. As professionals were not prepared for these uses, they were confronted with practical difficulties and ethical questions, such as the place of digital technology in care, confidentiality and protection of personal data, and equity in access to care. The COVID-19 health crisis questions how the organization of health care integrates the possibilities offered by digital technology, in particular to promote the autonomy and empowerment of mental health service users.
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A The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on the organization of psychiatric care. The present study examines how care professionals experienced this period and faced these new constraints weighing on their professional practices. Based on a qualitative research methodology, 13 group interviews with healthcare professionals working in psychiatric wards were conducted in five countries in western Europe. To complement this, 31 individual interviews were carried out in Belgium and France. Public health measures hindered certain therapeutic activities, jeopardized communication, and obliged healthcare professionals to modify and adapt their practices. Confronted with a transformation of their usual roles, healthcare professionals feared a deterioration in the quality of care. Impossible to continue in-person care practices, they resorted to online videoconferencing which went against their idea of care in which the encounter holds an essential place. The lockdown contradicted efforts to co-build care pathways toward readaptation, social reintegration, and recovery, thus reviving the perception of psychiatric hospitalization based on isolation.
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COVID-19 , COVID-19/epidemiología , COVID-19/prevención & control , Control de Enfermedades Transmisibles , Europa (Continente)/epidemiología , Humanos , Pandemias/prevención & control , Distanciamiento Físico , SARS-CoV-2RESUMEN
Objective: The Covid-19 health crisis has disrupted the organization and functioning of European mental health and psychiatric services, impacting the working conditions - already difficult before the epidemic - of professionals working therein. The Psy-GIPO2C project investigated the impact of the pandemic on these professionals. The Psy-GIPOC2C project has been co-funded by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche française (ANR, French National Research Agency) and the Centre-Val de Loire region (France). Method: This research took the form of a collaborative mixed methods study. The data collected through qualitative and quantitative research were analyzed during a working session held by the research consortium, which resulted in the formulation of recommendations for action to optimize the occupational health of European mental health professionals. Results: This research made it possible to identify and explain the extent to which, and the ways in which, the reorganization of European mental health services has impacted the mental health of the professionals working therein, and, in particular, to highlight the fact that the unprecedented use of digital devices has generated stress, and even tension, within these services. Conclusions: It is important to promote well-being at work among European mental health professionals, by involving them in the development of ad hoc measures (in addition to the existing psychological support measures available) to enable them to recharge their batteries. It is also important to support current and future professionals in their appropriation of digital tools for professional use.
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(1) Background: While in many countries, the psychiatric and mental health sectors had been in crisis for years, the onset of a novel coronavirus pandemic impacted their structures, organizations, and professionals worldwide. (2) Methods: To document the early impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis on psychiatry and mental health sectors, a systematic review of the international literature published in 2020 was conducted in PubMed (MEDLINE), Cairn.info, and SantéPsy (Ascodocpsy) databases. (3) Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 72 articles from scientific journals were selected, including papers documenting the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization of psychiatric care delivery, work processes in psychiatry and mental health units, and personal experiences of mental health professionals. This review identified the contributions aimed at preventing the onset of mental disorders in the early stages of the health crisis. It lists the organizational changes that have been implemented in the first place to ensure continuity of psychiatric care while reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. It questions the evolution of the rights and duties of mental health professionals in the first months of the pandemic. (4) Discussion and conclusions: Although this literature review exclusively documented the early impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis, it is of significant interest, as it pictures the unprecedent situation in which psychiatry and mental health care professionals found themselves in the first stages of the pandemic. This work is a preliminary step of a study to be conducted with mental health professionals on an international scale-the Psy-GIPO2C project-based on more than 15 group interviews, 30 individual interviews, and 2000 questionnaires. The final aim of this study is to formulate concrete recommendations for decision-makers to improve work in psychiatry and mental health.