Content Creators - Aman Sahva and Megna Rajagopal Content Editor - Safa Sajith Designer - Elsa Aziz
"Definitely life has changed after Covid as each and every one of us is affected by Covid -19 pandemic and being a healthcare worker there is more responsibility towards patients and life becomes too busy and fear-full. We become a risk for our family as well while dealing with covid patients." -Dr. Megha Tyagi, Dubai
Healthcare professionals are the first line of defence in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Sadly, circumstances force them to operate in inadequate work settings, which affects their mental health. Some instances of well-known workplace stress that could result in anxiety and depression are:
High workload
The lack of details about the virus
Implications on their health
Dread of infecting oneself and others
Constant care of COVID-19 patients
Consistent exposure to emergencies and death
The outbreak has brought about psychological effects that debilitate healthcare workers. They are at a higher risk owing to poor working circumstances, which if not addressed could impact their mental health severely. It would lead several of them to abandon their professions. "COVID-19 had an impact on us in such a way that I have faced challenges mentally, physically, and emotionally like never before. The feeling of impending doom by means of being at constant risk followed by a mandatory quarantine has made life very questionable. The question " Is this the life of a doctor that I have always dreamt of?" always has an insomniac effect! "-Dr. Aliya Amjad Hassan, Junior Resident [Ophthalmology], India Putting burnout, tension, and worry on hold and overlooking stress-related signs are common. They are less likely to seek psychiatric assistance or help. In such situations, early implicit stress identification is critical. It allows prompt intervention methods to minimize intensification and total work burnout. "There were times when the patient would be getting better and the condition deteriorates suddenly. Then as we started getting used to it there was an oxygen crisis and we had to preserve oxygen for more at-risk patients. We had to make difficult decisions like whom to save and whom to not. As a healthcare worker working during the pandemic in COVID ICU it not only affects our mental wellbeing but also our physical health." -Anjali Kottian, Respiratory therapist The solution to this problem is a mobile phone application with automatic speech analysis by monitoring respondents' speech patterns during a brief telephone call. Detecting minor occurrences in the voice may provide a pathway into measuring the impact of stress. Faster breathing rate, increased muscular tension, and alterations in salivation rate are psychological effects on the body that impact voice output. It comes in handy, especially at urgent times when it is impossible to measure stress directly. This automatic speech analysis will be conducted through telecommunication mode. Tele-sessions will be hosted by a professional psychologist/psychiatrist. With the consent of the participant, the call will be recorded for further clinical studies. In such cases, teletherapy is convenient considering how they would be tired of going back to a clinic set up to meet with a counsellor or therapist. The option of seeking help from home is beneficial, keeping in mind the time constraints, pressure, and stress they face. This model also provides flexibility since healthcare workers can connect with therapists who live a thousand miles away. How can we analyze and measure a person's stress level through the phone? This innovation is clinically tested and approved. Here we use “The Motivation Stress Affect Questionnaire” strategy, which can be self-administered. It comprises 11 Yes/No questions that include:
Five questions assessing motivation
Two questions assessing depression
Four questions assessing stress
The next phase is the evaluation of the answers to three standardized open-ended questions. It will help us capture natural speech within a limited duration. The participant will be asked to share their emotional neutrality followed by negative and positive events in their life. Each answer should last for one minute. The comparison of speech featuring neutral and emotionally loaded questions will give insights into the affective state of the participants. The conversation then enters into a listening part aimed at exploring certain points in depth. Active listening will help them vent out their thoughts, and this will help in recording information for clinical needs and devising solutions. The host will then proceed to offer follow-ups depending on the analysis and also give adequate advice on intervention strategies (eg: yoga, meditation, self-care activities, etc). We think that this program can be further developed by increasing the number of sessions and encouraging people to consider this a proficient and worthy service. Connecting the application to helplines that offer free counselling for frontline workers would make it more effective. For instance, https://sangath.in/tele-counselling An incentive like a cash voucher after a particular number of sessions will help motivate users even if they're exhausted after work. We can obtain these vouchers through crowdfunding or partnership with companies who are willing to offer them. Additionally, adding inspiring messages as notifications could help. "Pandemic has affected my life emotionally and mentally in many ways as I had to witness deaths every day as I was in covid duty. Not being able to see my family in India and not receiving monthly leave has affected me badly as my kids are on another side of the world"-Biji Thomas, Staff Nurse, Salmaniya Medical Complex, Bahrain This initiative is a first step into the early identification of stress in an at-risk population. This can be extended to analyze and measure teens’ and women’s stress levels who are struggling with abusive relationships, domestic violence, and bullying. Precaution and early identification are always better than late worries and helplessness. Therefore, this innovation aims to ensure that the people who care for us to get convenient support.
Let’s fight the vulnerability by creating much better options to make sure that the warriors and real heroes who dare to step forward and save lives are mentally and emotionally well.
"It's not easy to accept each one of us if we get infected with the virus. As a health professional, it's difficult to convince and educate the patient about each step during the quarantine period. It is the time we should awaken and support each other to avoid the chance to get covid and teach them how to overcome the situation."-Aswathy V.R., Nursing Supervisor References https://www.jmir.org/2021/4/e24191 https://www.elsevier.es/en-revista-journal-healthcare-quality-research-257-avance-resumen-working-conditions-emotional-impact-in-S2603647920300919 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/4/e045281
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