In combating the pandemic caused by the new coronavirus, healthcare professionals are on the front line. Even though they are trained to endure strenuous journeys and deal directly with human suffering, the pressures linked to combating Sars-Cov-2 are certainly unprecedented. Fear and danger of contagion, pressure from society, self-demand and physical and mental exhaustion are just some of the challenges faced by these professionals.
For the psychiatrist and Head of the Department of Medical Psychology and Psychiatry (DPMP) at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp, Renata Cruz Soares de Azevedo, it is absolutely normal for these people to feel fear. With this in mind, she and around 20 mental health professionals begin virtual care work today to support colleagues in their anxieties, anxieties and fears.
Check out the doctor's assessment of the routine of healthcare professionals in dealing with the pandemic and find out how the network works:
Despite dealing with illnesses on a daily basis, facing the coronavirus pandemic has an unprecedented gravity. How do you observe the routine of these health professionals at this moment?
This situation is bringing challenges that are new for everyone. Firstly, because there are still many uncertainties regarding how the pandemic will unfold in the country. Uncertainty leaves professionals particularly distressed. Here at Hospital das Clínicas, for example, a complete reorganization was carried out to have space available for potential cases. The sight of the Emergency Room, which is always full and today is practically empty, waiting for patients to come, generates anguish. At the same time, for the reorganization to be carried out, it was necessary for all the other treatment that is carried out, for the seriously ill patients that we treat here on a daily basis, to be reorganized. We are clearly taking care of patients in a different way, because we are prioritizing the pandemic. Furthermore, there are all the personal challenges, because the professionals who are working have children who are not at school, and when they get home there is a series of increased hygiene precautions, such as leaving shoes outside, immediately washing clothes, taking a shower. This redesigns the daily lives of people who, yes, are used to treating serious illnesses, but in this context it is redesigned.
What pressures do these professionals face?
Part of the pressure refers to the responsibility of the work itself, because people know the burden that work of this nature imposes, and that they will have to be on the front line. There is also pressure and expectation from society about how healthcare professionals should act in this situation. At the same time, surprisingly, there is a certain rejection from some people - we saw professionals being harassed because they were using public transport, for example. There is pressure from the family saying “don't visit me because I'm afraid you'll bring the disease to me”. So there are pressures of different kinds. In addition to the frequent pressure on health professionals that is “I have to cope”. Especially younger people, such as residents who are still in training. It’s something like “I need to cope, but at the same time I’m afraid”. And this is human and absolutely understandable.
Where does the virtual support group come from and how does it work?
There has been a job in the hospital for a long time called consultancy. Psychiatry professionals are called either because there are patients with psychiatric problems, or because teams ask them to deal with issues involving care and emotional aspects. We were already paying attention to how we were going to work at this particular point in the pandemic. From this, we decided to create a working group of professionals who are from the University, but who are doing voluntary work because it goes beyond their activity. These are people who are available to provide virtual emotional support to Unicamp health professionals. We currently have 20 professionals and will probably have more, who are offering appointments for virtual service. This service will be group or individual, for health professionals who request it.
At this moment, the work is done by professionals linked to the University, it is not open volunteering due to a series of particularities of care in this context, including the understanding of work in a tertiary/quaternary hospital service in the SUS.
How to access this network?
We have an institutional email (supportprofissionais@hc.unicamp.br) for Unicamp health professionals who want to receive care. The person will open a Googledocs in which they will insert information to organize the service, including the available time, their profession - so we can try to create groups with some homogeneity -, the expectations they have in relation to the support to direct the service. We already have 36 people who have requested, and the first groups take place this afternoon.
What message to give to these people who are dealing with the pandemic?
Feelings of insecurity and fear are human and need to be worked on. People do not need to feel any embarrassment in seeking help, the work of those on the front line is very important and these people have every right to ask for help to preserve their mental health at the moment.
