‘SAANTHWANA'—A Psychosocial Support Helpline for Health Care Workers during the COVID 19 pandemic at NIMHANS

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Covid – 19 has impacted all nations across the world, disrupting lives, economies, and societies. Working during this pandemic has placed frontline workers, especially health care personnel under immense and unprecedented pressure, putting their physical, mental, and social well-being at risk (WHO 2020). During this pandemic, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) launched a helpline called SAANTHWANA (meaning consoling people in distress) for its staff, students, and employees who were involved in health care services for the patients and their families. Objectives: The main objectives of the SAANTHWANA helpline are to identify psychosocial issues of the health care workers, to provide them with psychosocial interventions, and to create supportive networking in the hospital. Methods: SAANTHWANA helpline services were started in June 2020 and calls are answered by mental health professionals. It is a 24 x 7 hours toll-free helpline exclusively dedicated to the health care professionals working in the hospital. The calls received from June 2020 to March 2021 (N = 327) have been considered for the current study. The data was collected from the helpline records using a semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Most of the callers reported psychosocial issues such as distress, social stigma, confusion, lack of motivation, worries about their family, work stress, confusion, sleep disturbance, fear, being unable to look after the family, uncertainty, and lack of concentration on the work and daily activities. These issues of the health care workers were addressed by mental health professionals with psychosocial interventions such as proving correct information, ventilation, activity scheduling, guidance, social support, sleep hygiene, active listening, relaxation, and spirituality. The callers reported positive changes in their attitude and behaviour towards the pandemic as well as work. The SANTHWAANA helpline has been able to reach out to the health care workers who required not only administrative support but also psychosocial care. The helpline team is following up on all these cases to provide them with regular intervention required at different phases of the pandemic. There is a need to start such services for health care workers and other frontline workers across India. © 2023 DMICS.