Impact of the coronavirus pandemic on mental health and health care in adults with neurofibromatosis: Patient perspectives from an online survey.
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SUBMITTER: Wolters PL
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8652613 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundThe worldwide rise in common mental disorders (CMDs) is posing challenges in the provision of and access to care, particularly for immigrant, refugee and racialized groups from low-income backgrounds. eHealth tools, such as the Interactive Computer-Assisted Client Assessment Survey (iCCAS) may reduce some barriers to access. iCCAS is a tablet-based, touch-screen self-assessment completed by clients while waiting to see their family physician (FP) or nurse practitioner (NP). In an academic-community initiative, iCCAS was made available in English and Spanish at a Community Health Centre in Toronto through a mixed-method trial.MethodsThis paper reports the perspectives of clients in the iCCAS group (n = 74) collected through an exit survey, and the perspectives of 9 providers (four FP and five NP) gathered through qualitative interviews. Client acceptance of the tool was assessed for cognitive and technical dimensions of their experience. They rated twelve items for perceived Benefits and Barriers and four questions for the technical quality.ResultsMost clients reported that the iCCAS completion time was acceptable (94.5 %), the touch-screen was easy to use (97.3 %), and the instructions (93.2 %) and questions (94.6 %) were clear. Clients endorsed the tool's Benefits, but were unsure about Barriers to information privacy and provider interaction (mean 4.1, 2.6 and 2.8, respectively on a five-point scale). Qualitative analysis of the provider interviews identified five themes: challenges in Assessing Mental Health Services, such as case complexity, time, language and stigma; the Tool's Benefits, including non-intrusive prompting of clients to discuss mental health, and facilitation of providers' assessment and care plans; the Tool's Integration into everyday practice; Challenges for Use (e.g. time); and Promoting Integration Effectively, centered on the timing of screening, setting readiness, language diversity, and technological advances.ConclusionsParticipant clients and providers perceived iCCAS as an easy and useful tool for mental health assessments at the Community Health Centre and similar settings. The findings are anticipated to inform further work in this area.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov; NCT02023957 ; Registered retrospectively 12 Dec. 2013.
| S-EPMC5035495 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to significantly increase the prevalence of mental health problems, thus raising the need for psychological support interventions around the world. Online psychological interventions have already been shown to be an effective solution to promote psychological treatments. Nevertheless, planning and developing an online intervention, involving possible stakeholders, might facilitate the dissemination of, willingness to use, and success of the future intervention. This study aims to explore and compare the experiences that Italians living in Italy and abroad had with available support services during the COVID-19 pandemic, their needs, and attitudes, as well as possible barriers to online psychological interventions. A sample of 1024 Italians (F = 69.8%; mean age = 41.3; SD = 15.3) was recruited through social media platforms and personal contacts and they were asked to complete an online survey. Results showed that perceived psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic improved. In Europe, psychological support was delivered mainly in person (69.0%), while online interventions were primarily used in extra-European countries (57%). Then, only 44% of the total sample was interested in trying an online psychological intervention. Various advantages and disadvantages were defined by stakeholders: The main advantages were the reduction in geographical distances, economic reasons, and the reduction in the waiting list; The main disadvantages were problems with technology, low motivation of users, and privacy/safety reasons. These data made it possible to improve the knowledge regarding the views and attitudes that Italians have about online psychological interventions, and shed light on how to increase the uptake of digital health.
| S-EPMC9222987 | biostudies-literature
Project description:AimGiven the need for data to inform public health messaging to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, this national survey sought to assess the state of COVID-19-related knowledge, beliefs, mental health, substance use changes, and behaviors among a sample of U.S. adults.Subject and methodsIn the period March 20-30, 2020, we collected data on COVID-19-related knowledge, awareness and adoption of preventive practices, depression and anxiety (Patient Health Questionnaire-4), stress (Impact of Event Scale-6), pessimism, and tobacco and alcohol use. Differences between age groups (18-39 years, 40-59 years and ≥ 60 years) were tested using Pearson's chi-squared tests or ANOVAs; associations between drinking and smoking and depression, anxiety, and stress were tested using adjusted logistic regression models.ResultsApproximately half of the sample (N Total = 6391) were 50-69 years old and 58% were female. COVID-19 knowledge (mean = 12.0; SD = 1.2) and protective practice awareness (mean = 9.1; SD = 0.8) were high. Among respondents, 44% had a score consistent with depression and anxiety (PHQ-4 score ≥ 6), and 52% reported high stress scores (≥ median of 1.33). COVID-19-related anxiety and depression were associated with increased drinking (AOR = 1.79; 95% CI = 1.49, 2.15) and smoking (AOR = 2.17; 95% CI = 1.64, 2.88). High stress scores were also associated with increased drinking (AOR = 1.80; 95% CI = 1.49, 2.17, p < 0.001) and smoking (AOR = 1.75; 95% CI = 1.31, 2.33).ConclusionsIn spite of high knowledge levels, important gaps were identified. High prevalence of poor mental health outcomes and associated increases in drinking and smoking warrant ongoing risk communications tailoring to effectively disseminate information and expanding psychosocial services, particularly via telehealth, to mitigate the negative mental health impact of COVID-19.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10389-021-01564-4.
| S-EPMC8112882 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundThe novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has spread quickly worldwide with dramatic consequences on our daily lives. Adverse psychosocial consequences of Covid-19 might be particularly severe for children and adolescents, parents of young children and people with mental health conditions (mhc), who are more prone to the experience of psychosocial stress and who are more dependent on the access to professional psychosocial support. The present survey therefore aimed to explore perceived stress and the emotional responses of children and adolescents as well as adults with and without mhc during the social restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.MethodsThe survey gathered information about 284 children and adolescent (parent-on-child-reports) and 456 adults (including 284 parents, self-reports). The participants were allocated to four groups: children and adolescents with mhc, children and adolescent without mhc, adults with mhc and adults without mhc. The survey included general questions about socio-demographic characteristics and mental health status, the CoRonavIruSHealth Impact Survey and the Perceived Stress Scale (only data on adults). Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used for comparing the emotional responses during the Covid-19 pandemic with emotions before the Covid-19 pandemic. Independent sample t-test were used to compare the level of perceived stress between the adult groups, linear regression analyses were conducted to examine which variables predicted perceived stress during the Covid-19 restrictions.ResultsAn increase to the worse during the Covid-19 restrictions was observed for most emotions and worries in all four groups (children and adolescents with mhc, children and adolescents without mhc, adults with mhc, adults without mhc). Contrary to our expectations, a greater number of emotions worsened significantly for children and adolescents as well as adults without mhc as compared to those with mhc. We found higher perceived stress in parents as compared to adults without children in the same household and in adults with mhc as compared to those without mhc.DiscussionCovid-19-related social restrictions and potential health risks seem to affect emotions and perceived stress in children, adolescents and adults. Especially, Covid-19 seems to be have worsened the mental well-being of children and adolescent and their families, who were mentally healthy before the Covid-19 pandemic.
| S-EPMC7897360 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Mental health problems are common among youth in high school, and school counselors play a key role in the provision of school-based mental health care. However, school counselors occupy a multispecialist position that makes it difficult for them to provide care to all of those who are in need in a timely manner. A Web-based mental health service that offers screening, psychological therapy, and monitoring may help counselors manage time and provide additional oversight to students. However, for such a model to be implemented successfully, school counselors' attitudes toward Web-based resources and services need to be measured. OBJECTIVE:This study aimed to examine the acceptability of a proposed Web-based mental health service, the feasibility of providing this type of service in the school context, and the barriers and facilitators to implementation as perceived by school counselors in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. METHODS:This study utilized an online cross-sectional survey to measure school counselors' perspectives. RESULTS:A total of 145 school counselors completed the survey. Overall, 82.1% (119/145) thought that the proposed service would be helpful to students. One-third reported that they would recommend the proposed model, with the remaining reporting potential concerns. Years of experience was the only background factor associated with a higher level of comfort with the proposed service (P=.048). Personal beliefs, knowledge and awareness, Internet accessibility, privacy, and confidentiality were found to influence, both positively and negatively, the likelihood of school counselors implementing a Web-based school mental health service. CONCLUSIONS:The findings of this study confirmed that greater support and resources are needed to facilitate what is already a challenging and emotionally demanding role for school counselors. Although the school counselors in this study were open to the proposed service model, successful implementation will require that the issues outlined are carefully addressed.
| S-EPMC5715202 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectiveExamine the changes in service delivery Australian public sexual health clinics made to remain open during lockdown.MethodsA cross-sectional survey designed and delivered on Qualtrics was emailed to 21 directors of public sexual health clinics across Australia from July-August 2020 and asked about a variety of changes to service delivery. Descriptive statistics were calculated.ResultsTwenty clinics participated, all remained open and reported service changes, including suspension of walk-in services in eight clinics. Some clinics stopped offering asymptomatic screening for varying patient populations. Most clinics transitioned to a mix of telehealth and face-to-face consultations. Nineteen clinics reported delays in testing and 13 reported limitations in testing. Most clinics changed to phone consultations for HIV medication refills (n=15) and eleven clinics prescribed longer repeat prescriptions. Fourteen clinics had staff redeployed to assist the COVID-19 response.ConclusionPublic sexual health clinics pivoted service delivery to reduce risk of COVID-19 transmission in clinical settings, managed staffing reductions and delays in molecular testing, and maintained a focus on urgent and symptomatic STI presentations and those at higher risk of HIV/STI acquisition. Implications for public health: Further research is warranted to understand what impact reduced asymptomatic screening may have had on community STI transmission.
| S-EPMC8652521 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background: The novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and related compulsory measures have triggered a wide range of psychological issues. However, the effect of COVID-19 on mental health in late-middle-aged adults remains unclear. Methods: This cross-sectional, web-based survey recruited 3,730 participants (≥ 50 years old) between February 28 and March 11 of 2020. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9, Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7, Insomnia Severity Index, and Acute Stress Disorder Scale were used to evaluate depression, anxiety, insomnia, and acute stress symptoms. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was fitted to explore risk factors that were associated with the selected outcomes. Results: The mean age of the participants was 54.44 ± 5.99 years, and 2,026 (54.3%) of the participants were female. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and acute stress symptoms among late-middle-aged adults in China during the COVID-19 pandemic was 20.4, 27.1, 27.5, and 21.2%, respectively. Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that participants who were quarantined had increased odds ratios for the four mental health symptoms, and those with a good understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic displayed a decreased risk for all mental health symptoms among late-middle-aged adults. In addition, participants with a low income and with a risk of COVID-19 exposure at work had a remarkably high risk of depression, anxiety, and acute stress symptoms. Conclusions: Mental health symptoms in late-middle-aged adults in China during the COVID-19 pandemic are prevalent. Population-specific mental health interventions should be developed to improve mental health outcomes in late-middle-aged adults during this public health emergency.
| S-EPMC8187778 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background/objectivesDifferences in older adults' worry, attitudes, and mental health between high-income countries with diverging pandemic responses are largely unknown. We compared COVID-19 worry, attitudes towards governmental responses, and self-reported mental health symptoms among adults aged ≥55 in the United States and Canada early in the COVID-19 pandemic.DesignOnline cross-sectional survey administered between April 2nd and May 31st in the United States and between May 1st and June 30th, 2020 in Canada.SettingNationally in the United States and Canada.ParticipantsConvenience sample of older adults aged ≥55.MeasurementsLikert-type scales measured COVID-19 worry and attitudes towards government support. Three standardized scales assessed mental health symptoms: the eight-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, the five-item Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the three-item UCLA loneliness scale.ResultsThere were 4453 U.S. respondents (71.7% women; mean age 67.5) and 1549 Canadian (67.6% women; mean age 69.3). More U.S. respondents (71%) were moderately or extremely worried about the pandemic, compared to 52% in Canada. Just 20% of U.S. respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the federal government cared about older adults in their COVID-19 pandemic response, compared to nearly two-thirds of Canadians (63%). U.S. respondents were more likely to report elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to Canadians; 34.2% (32.8-35.6) versus 25.6% (23.3-27.8) for depressive and 30.8% (29.5-32.2) versus 23.7% (21.6-25.9) for anxiety symptoms. The proportion of United States and Canadian respondents who reported loneliness was similar. A greater proportion of women compared to men reported symptoms of depression and anxiety across all age groups in both countries.ConclusionU.S. older adults felt less supported by their federal government and had elevated depressive and anxiety symptoms compared to older adults in Canada during early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Public health messaging from governments should be clear, consistent, and incorporate support for mental health.
| S-EPMC8250795 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on population mental health has highlighted the potential for digital mental health to support the needs of those requiring care. This study sought to understand the digital mental health experiences and priorities of Canadians affected by mental health conditions (i.e. seekers, patients, and care partners).MethodsA national cross-sectional electronic survey of Canadians was administered through a market research firm's survey panel. Seekers, patients, and care partners were asked about their digital mental health experiences (e.g. uptake, barriers to access) and priorities. Survey responses were summarized using descriptive statistics.ResultsOverall, 1003 participants completed the survey. 70.2% of participants routinely use digital mental health supports to support themselves or those they care for; however, only 28.6% of participants are satisfied with the available digital mental health supports. Most participants (73.3%) have encountered some barriers when accessing digital mental health supports. Awareness of digital mental health supports was a top barrier identified by participants. The top digital mental health priorities consisted of digital mental health curation, navigation, and a digital mental health passport.ConclusionsMost participants use digital mental health supports for themselves or others, however, many are unaware of digital mental health supports available. Efforts to improve navigating access to digital and in-person mental health services are seen as a top priority, highlighting the need to enable seekers, patients, and care partners to find the appropriate support and make decisions on how to best improve their mental health.
| S-EPMC9131389 | biostudies-literature
Project description: Not available
| S-EPMC11311150 | biostudies-literature