Provision of mental health care to healthcare workers during COVID-19: A call for the practice of vulnerability

ABSTRACT

The Commentary outlines the lived experience of a liaison psychiatrist working as part of a frontline COVID - team in a large public hospital in Cape Town, South Africa and explores several important themes including vulnerability in health care, connection with patient experience, group processing of trauma, reintegration following trauma, and the importance of embedded mental health care in all health systems. The frontline psychological experience has been similar to wartime combat and the collective stressors experienced by healthcare workers must be recognised as such to ensure appropriate support is provided to help them recover.