A crisis within the crisis: The mental health situation of refugees in the world during the 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

BACKGROUND: 68.5 million people around the world have been forced to leave their houses. Refugees have mainly to face their adaption in a host country, which involves bureaucracy, different culture, poverty, and racism. The already fragile situation of refugees becomes worrying and challenged in the face of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Therefore, we aimed to describe the factors that can worsen the mental health of refugees. METHOD: The studies were identified in well-known international journals found in three electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Embase. The data were cross-checked with information from the main international newspapers. RESULTS: According to the literature, the difficulties faced by refugees with the COVID-19 pandemic are potentiated by the pandemic state. There are several risk factors common to coronavirus and psychiatric illnesses as overcrowding, disruption of sewage disposal, poor standards of hygiene, poor nutrition, negligible sanitation, lack of access to shelter, health care, public services, and safety. These associated with fear and uncertainty create a closed ground for psychological sickness and COVID-19 infection. CONCLUSIONS: There should be not only a social mobilization to contain the virus, but also a collective effort on behalf of the most vulnerable populations.

The mental health of those whose rights have been taken away: An essay on the mental health of indigenous peoples in the face of the 2019 Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.

Background: : In Latin America there are about 45 million indigenous people in 826 communities that represent 8.3% of the population. An estimated 798,365 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander were in Australia, 5,2 million indigenous people living in America and 2,13 million in Canada. Racial/ethnic disparities in mental health service use have increased especially in the context of the new coronavirus pandemic. Thus, we aimed to describe the mental health situation of the indigenous population in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: : The studies were identified in well-known international journals found in three electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and MEDLINE. The data were cross-checked with information from the main international newspapers. Results: : According to the literature, due to the COVID-19 pandemic there is a lack of specialized mental health services and professionals, a restricted access to quality information and a lack of access to inputs, causing negative feelings and it can exacerbate pre-existing mental problems (eg: depression, suicidal ideation, smoking and binge drink). The cultural differences are a risk factor to worsen the mental health of this already vulnerable population. Conclusion: : providing psychological first aid is an essential care component for indigenous populations that have been victims COVID-19 pandemic.

When health professionals look death in the eye: the mental health of professionals who deal daily with the 2019 coronavirus outbreak.

BACKGROUND: The fact that COVID-19 is transmissible from human to human and associated with high morbidity and potentially fatality can intensify the perception of personal danger. In addition, the foreseeable shortage of supplies and an increasing flow of suspected and real cases of COVID-19 contribute to the pressures and concerns of health professionals. METHOD: The studies were identified in well-known international journals found in two electronic databases: Scopus and Embase. The data were cross-checked with information from the main international newspapers. RESULTS: Work-related stress is a potential cause of concern for health professionals. It has been associated with anxiety including multiple clinical activities, depression in the face of the coexistence of countless deaths, long work shifts with the most diverse unknowns and demands in the treatment with patients with COVID-19. Therefore, it is an important indicator of psychic exhaustion. CONCLUSIONS: As coronavirus cases increase and deaths surge in Italy, new figures show an "enormous" level of contagion among the country's medical personnel. At least 2,629 health workers have been infected with coronavirus since the outbreak onset in February, representing 8.3% of total cases. The percentage of infected health workers has almost doubled the number registered in China throughout the epidemic. Intensive care unit physicians are on their stress limit, especially when dealing with older patients and with death prospects. Doctors, not a relative, are inevitably the last people a dying COVID-19 patient will see.

Spirituality in childhood cancer care.

To deal with the suffering caused by childhood cancer, patients and their families use different coping strategies, among which, spirituality appears a way of minimizing possible damage. In this context, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the influence of spirituality in childhood cancer care, involving biopsychosocial aspects of the child, the family, and the health care team facing the disease. To accomplish this purpose, a nonsystematic review of literature of articles on national and international electronic databases (Scientific Electronic Library Online [SciELO], PubMed, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature [LILACS]) was conducted using the search terms "spirituality," "child psychology," "child," and "cancer," as well as on other available resources. After the search, 20 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final sample. Our review showed that the relation between spirituality and health has lately become a subject of growing interest among researchers, as a positive influence of spirituality in the people's welfare was noted. Studies that were retrieved using the mentioned search strategy in electronic databases, independently assessed by the authors according to the systematic review, showed that spirituality emerges as a driving force that helps pediatric patients and their families in coping with cancer. Health care workers have been increasingly attentive to this dimension of care. However, it is necessary to improve their knowledge regarding the subject. The search highlighted that spirituality is considered a source of comfort and hope, contributing to a better acceptance of his/her chronic condition by the child with cancer, as well as by the family. Further up-to-date studies facing the subject are, thus, needed. It is also necessary to better train health care practitioners, so as to provide humanized care to the child with cancer.