ABSTRACT
Telehealth is being broadly developed in all fields of medicine, and online visits seem a particularly suitable alternative to in-person visits in outpatient psychiatry especially in conflict setting. Telepsychiatry has numerous advantages over in-person visits.
Subject(s)
Mental Disorders , Psychiatry , Telemedicine , Feasibility Studies , Humans , Mental Disorders/therapyABSTRACT
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has made many Azerbaijanis internally displaced (IDP), missing, wounded, disabled, or killed. The war and its aftermath have drastically impacted the mental health of these populations, leading to depression, anxiety, and stress-related psychosomatic illnesses such as dissociative disorder. However, their access to medical and psychological services is limited. Intervention in terms of policy making, healthcare services, information systems, and social support is required to promoting social integration and facilitate accessibility to mental healthcare. National and international organisations, foreign aids, and media support can contribute to this end. The psychological effects of the war on children, healthcare shortage associated with COVID-19, accommodation and welfare problems, limited access to vaccination, technology, and educational opportunities, dangerous explosive remnants, as well as isolation and marginalisation of the IDPs can all be challenges facing the mental health of these populations. Organising programs such as support groups to share wartime experience, resilience promotion, psychosocial support for healthcare providers, religious identification, integral COVID-19 management, beside accommodation and education support are recommended to enhance the condition of these Azerbaijani populations.