Acupuncture for healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: The experience of a University Hospital in southern Brazil

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Complaints related to mental health and psychiatric illnesses have emerged since the beginning of SARSCoV- 2 pandemic, especially among health-care workers (HCWs). Acupuncture could be a useful tool in this context. Objective: To describe the experience of using acupuncture in an integrative initiative at the University Hospital of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (HU-UFSC) to provide care to HCWs with medical disorders that have emerged or aggravated during the pandemic. Methods: HU-UFSC has implemented a contingency plan to cope with the new demands that emerged as a result of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Within this contingency plan, a support team to HU-UFSC's HCWs was established. The initiative offered a comprehensive integrative approach that included acupuncture, psychiatry, psychology and homeopathy. HCWs sought support as they presented evolving symptoms or worsening of chronic conditions. Results: From April 2020 to July 2020, the acupuncture team completed a total of 340 appointments. Most patients were treated with acupuncture once a week for approximately 4 weeks. A survey of chief complaints showed that 83% of patients had mental health complaints. Among those, 56% had concurrent pain disorders;10% sought care for pain conditions exclusively and 7% reported other complaints. Mental health-related complaints were mostly associated with worsening of preexisting conditions, mainly anxiety, followed by irritability and sleep disorders. We observed a large number of patients with acute chronic pain associated with mental health complaints (56%). The three acupuncture medical professionals and two acupuncture residents involved in this project observed a significant improvement in symptoms among HCWs treated with acupuncture. In addition, the integrative approach facilitated the process of coping with suffering triggered by the pandemic. Conclusion:The present experience of using acupuncture for workers in a Brazilian university hospital setting suggests that acupuncture may help individuals suffering from mental health issues triggered by the pandemic.