ABSTRACT
Background: Healthcare workers on the frontline who are directly involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients are at a special risk of physical, psychological and social impact of the pandemic. This challenging situation is causing various mental health problems like distress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and fear which affects their decision making ability in treating patients and also has long term physical and psychological implications. This study was aimed at investigating the psychological impact, coping strategies used and the effect of ‘brief psychological intervention’ on mental health of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic between May and October 2020. Methodology: Total 175 healthcare workers participated in the interventional study. ‘General health Questionnaire-12’ and ‘Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R)’ were used to assess psychiatric morbidity and posttraumatic stress respectively; ‘brief-COPE’ was used for assessing coping strategies used. An oral session of ‘brief psychological intervention’ was delivered and reassessment by IES-R was done 3 months later. Results: Fear of spreading or contracting infection was more among females and nurses. Doctors had higher psychiatric morbidity and posttraumatic stress (PTS); there were no statistically significant gender differences in the same. Participants with higher psychiatric morbidity also had more PTS. Use of approach coping strategies showed least PTS. The interventional module was effective in stress alleviation. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic had led to considerable stress among healthcare workers. Imparting regular psychological intervention can help in preparedness and building resilience to tackle the taxing circumstances that have arisen due to the pandemic
ABSTRACT
Background: Despite significant progress in improvement of Government health care delivery system over past decade, community is reluctant to accept it because of substandard level of quality. “5S” is one of the strategies used to improve the physical quality and work efficiency of organization. 5S stands for five Japanese words which can be translated in English as Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. Rajkot Municipal Corporation has adopted 5S strategy within its health centers with the aim to improve image of public health care facility among community and thereby to increase coverage of health services. This study was conducted to assess 5S implementation status at all Urban Heath Centers under health department of Rajkot Municipal Corporation, Gujarat, India. Methods: “5S” was implemented by the corporation in campaign mode in 18 Urban Health Centers in July 2014. Campaign included training, baseline assessment, and observing 5S week. A cross sectional study was carried out by personal observation and interview to assess the implementation of 5S campaign. Standard audit check list recommended by the State Quality Assurance Cell, Gujarat was used to evaluate. Results: Overall; all five components of 5S showed significant improvement (p<0.001) with highest improvement in Sorting and Setting in order. Significant improvement in utilization of Out Patient, laboratory services, immunization, family planning services etc were observed in comparison to previous year’s corresponding period. Conclusions: Significant improvement in utilization in major health care services was noted in the study after implementation of 5S. ‘5S’ practice can be sustained with sincere and continuous efforts.