The challenge of community mental health interventions with patients, relatives, and health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic: a real-world 9-month follow-up study.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to implement protocols that respond to the mental health demands of the population has been demonstrated. The PASMICOR programme started in March 2020, involving a total of 210 requests for treatment. Out of those subjects, the intervention was performed in 53 patients with COVID-19 without history of past psychiatric illness, 57 relatives and 60 health professionals, all of them within the area of Salamanca (Spain). Interventions were carried out by professionals of the public mental health service mostly by telephone. Depending on clinical severity, patients received basic (level I) or complex psychotherapeutic care combined with psychiatric care (level II). The majority of attended subjects were women (76.5%). Anxious-depressive symptoms were predominant, although sadness was more frequent in patients, insomnia in relatives and anxiety and fear in health professionals. 80% of the sample, particularly most of the health professionals, required a high-intensity intervention (level II). Nearly 50% of the people treated were discharged after an average of 5 interventions. Providing early care to COVID-19 patients, relatives and professionals by using community mental health resources can help to reduce the negative impact of crises, such as the pandemic, on the most affected population groups.

[Health worker safety as an essential condition for patient safety]. / La seguridad de los profesionales como condición indispensable para la seguridad de los pacientes.

The greatest asset of any health system is its professionals, and they must be cared for in order to take care. It is necessary to emphasize that they are key for the resilience of our health systems. This is particularly important in crisis times and especially important for primary health care.During the COVID-19 pandemic, working conditions have been the main common latent factor for patient safety incidents. Primary Care professionals have worked in unsafe working conditions, with lack of means of protection, great uncertainty, lack of scientific knowledge and rapidly changing work protocols for dealing with cases and contacts of COVID-19 infection, with a high care pressure, long working hours, suspension of vacations, and even changes in their jobs. All of this has contributed to their becoming, not only the first victims of the pandemic, but also the second victims of the adverse events that occurred during it.Therefore, in this article we analyze the main risks and damages suffered by professionals in Primary Care and provide keys to contribute to their protection in future similar situations.

[A safe use of medications in Primary Care, in COVID-19 pandemic as well]. / Uso seguro de los medicamentos en Atención Primaria, también en época de pandemia de la COVID-19.

The third Global Patient Safety Challenge, Medication Without Harm, was launched in 2017 by the World Health Organization with the goal of reducing the already well-known severe preventable medication-related harm by 50% over the next 5 years. Nothing suggested that, two years later, the world would suffer a terrible pandemic, which has been a much greater challenge than the aforementioned one and that would put it to test from the first stages of the medication use process. The rapid pace imposed by the pandemic has created new risks in the use of medication in those affected by COVID-19 and in the population due to organizational changes in the provision of health care in health services. Therefore, prudent prescribing is becoming more important than ever in health systems. This article aims to analyze the main risks produced during the pandemic period and offer Primary Care professionals an update and a reminder of the main aspects related to the safety use of medications.