Question

which are the characteristics that makes ab effective use on the mental health of student and employee during covid 19

Answer 1

Answer :

Mental Health and Employees :

Mental health, wellbeing and illness are critical components of overall worker health and wellbeing. Workplaces should prioritize protecting employee’s mental health and safety on an equal level as physical safety. Addressing mental health in the workplace requires continuous leadership and commitment from leaders, buy-in from managers, supervisors and employees, compassionate and flexible policies and programs, facilitating education, awareness and a strong understanding and respect for the complexities of mental health, wellbeing and illness. The intersection of worker wellbeing and its impact on occupational safety is the foundational belief of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Total Worker Health framework, as well as other literature on safety culture, building a psychologically safe workplace, and worker wellbeing.

There are six sections to this brief, all of which are equally important and foundational to workplace policies and programming addressing the overarching umbrella of mental health. 1. Understanding Mental Health and Mental Illness 2. The Relationship between Mental Health, Mental Illness, and the Workplace 3. The Impacts of COVID-19 4. Taking Action 5. Stigma and Other Barriers to Success 6. Measuring Success

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mental Health America’s 2017 Workplace Health Survey found that 63% of respondents reported that workplace stress resulted in a significant impact on their mental and behavioral health, with over one in three reporting that they engaged in unhealthy behaviors in response to that stress. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need to respond to the mental health crisis as it has disrupted the normal working lives of millions of Americans, increasing stress both at home and at work. COVID-19 will have a material impact on the behavioral health of society. COVID-19 has caused the sharpest economic pullback in modern history and a record-breaking spike in unemployment – job loss is associated with increased depression, anxiety, distress and low self-esteem and may lead to higher rates of substance misuse, substance use disorder and suicide. Mental health support is becoming a top concern for employers as more employees struggle with increased anxiety, loneliness and depression related to remote work and other stressors and impacts related to the pandemic. Mental health distress has increased as measures taken to slow the spread of the virus – such as physical distancing, business and school closures and shelter-in-place orders – lead to greater isolation and potential financial distress. Beyond the negative impact of a traditional economic downturn, COVID-19 presents additional challenges – fear of the virus itself, collective grief, prolonged physical distancing and associated social isolation. Prevalence of mental health problems in natural disaster-affected populations is already found to be 2–3 times higher than that of the general population (varies from 8.6 – 57.3%). One example from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina showed that the prevalence of serious mental illness had doubled, and nearly half of the respondents in the study have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The mental health distress and illness stemming from the pandemic will not disappear as the country recovers and people regain a sense of normalcy; it can be expected that the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to manifest in the coming weeks, months and years. Some of these long-term impacts include a likely surge of people experiencing acute behavioral health problems and symptoms from mental illness. Some of these may be new symptoms and diagnoses; others may appear as existing conditions are exacerbated. Some of these acute behavioral health problems may become chronic. Some populations will be more vulnerable than others, including frontline employees such as healthcare workers who may experience elevated levels of trauma and mental health impacts. Employers should develop both short- and long-term plans to address and support employee mental health and wellbeing.

Mental Health of Students:

The novel coronavirus (COVID-2019) has spread very rapidly all over China and several other countries took strict isolation measures and delays in starting schools, colleges, and universities across the country. Public health emergencies can have many psychological effects on college students, which can be expressed as anxiety, fear, and worry, among others. About 24.9% of college students have experienced anxiety because of this COVID-19 outbreak. Living in urban areas, living with parents, having a steady family income were protective factors for college students against experienced anxiety during the COVID-19 outbreak. However, having a relative or an acquaintance infected with COVID-19 was an independent risk factor for experienced anxiety. From a medical and psychical approach, stress can be related with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and critical cardiac lesions. The COVID-19 epidemic in China has ignited another epidemic of stress, anxiety and depression. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese government has taken proactive measures to contain not only the spread of the novel coronavirus but also that of psychological distress in the public. There is intense concern about the provision of online mental health services, with the utilization of these services to a large extent neglected and individuals with lower socioeconomic status (SES) might not have as much access to digital technologies. Ιn the current home confinement situation due to the COVID-19 outbreak, most individuals are exposed to an unprecedented stressful situation of unknown duration. This may not only increase daytime stress, anxiety and depression levels but also disrupt sleep. Importantly, because of the fundamental role that sleep plays in emotion regulation, sleep disturbance can have direct consequences upon next day emotional functioning. People need adaptions of cognitive behavioral therapy elements that are feasible to implement for those facing changed work schedules and requirements, those with health anxiety and those handling childcare and homeschooling, whilst also recognizing the general limitations imposed on physical exercise and social interaction. Managing sleep problems as best as possible during home confinement can limit stress and possibly prevent disruptions of social relationships. First-line medical workers and scientists played a leading role in fighting against the COVID-19 outbreak. China sent many medical works from across the country to Hubei province in the virus fight. Mental health care for the frontline medical workers around the word is urgently needed. The frontline medical professionals worked under great psychological stress and faced many challenges and losses. The large number of COVID-19 patients, suspected cases, hospitalizations, and patients in critical condition made the medical work incredibly hard. The transmission of COVID-19 from human-to-human and the increasing number of deaths could elicit their fear about being infected. The bad outcomes of some critical patients, the suffering of patients and their relatives could lead to worsening anxiety and mental distress. In China to explore the mental health status of medical and nursing staff and the efficacy, or lack of critically connecting psychological needs to receiving psychological care, researchers conducted a quantitative study. Notably, among 994 medical and nursing staff working in Wuhan, 36.9% had subthreshold mental health disturbances, 34.4% had mild disturbances, 22.4% had moderate disturbances, and 6.2% had severe disturbance in the immediate wake of the viral epidemic. The noted burden fell particularly heavily on young women. Of all participants, 36.3% had accessed psychological materials (such as books on mental health), 50.4% had accessed psychological resources available through media (such as online push messages on mental health self help coping methods), and 17.5% had participated in counseling or psychotherapy. Trends in levels of psychological distress and factors such as exposure to infected people and psychological assistance were identified. The prevalence of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in China hardest-hit areas a month after the COVID-19 outbreak was 7% and women reported significant higher PTSS in the domains of re-experiencing, negative alterations in cognition or mood, and hyperarousal. In China a key recommendation is to shift services from institutions to the community, highlighting the steps required to provide appropriate psychiatric services for patients in the current epidemic of COVID-19. Apart from this, with the development of artificial intelligence techniques in clinical settings, attempts to speed up constructing the framework of online consultation and internet hospitals, as well as carrying out telemedicine, are valuable. As one the fundamental components of mental health service, the large top-class tertiary hospitals-based psychiatric health care professionals are easy to play critical roles in comprehensive health of population with mental disorders. This can be leveraged through big data analyses and harnessed via updated clinical practice guidelines and algorithms to improve policy-making. In order to reduce the risk of developing mental health problems, simple advices may be provided to the general population 1) limit the sources of stress, 2) break the isolation, 3) maintain your usual rhythm, 4) focus on the benefit of the isolation, 5) ask for professional help.

The vulnerability to psychological distress across populations in the COVID-19 pandemic could be attributable to various factors, including gender, social support, specific experiences with COVID-19 infection, length of isolation, and amount of exposure to the media. In a study about the attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak the results showed that the majority of the respondents (97.1%) had confidence that China can win the battle against COVID-19. Nearly all of the participants (98.0%) wore masks when going out in recent days. In multiple logistic regression analyses, the COVID-19 knowledge score was significantly associated with a lower likelihood of negative attitudes and preventive practices towards COVID-2019. Most Chinese residents of a relatively high socioeconomic status, in particular women, are knowledgeable about COVID-19, hold optimistic attitudes, and have appropriate practices towards COVID-19. Health education programs aimed at improving COVID-19 knowledge are helpful for Chinese residents to hold optimistic attitudes and maintain appropriate practices. One of the largest community mental health projects globally is the mental health care model in China entitled the “Management and treatment program for severe mental illness.” In order to establish community-based mental health services nationwide, this project integrated the resources in psychiatric hospitals and existing community psychiatric services and trained mental health professionals in the development of individual service plans. The COVID-19 outbreak has raised numerous challenges for psychiatric hospitals in China to safely manage patients’ major psychiatric disorders in addition to preventing and treating COVID-19. In addressing these challenges, future community mental health system reform is necessary to re-balance the system by re-distributing resources from hospital-centric services to community-based and primary care services. In recent years, Chinese health workers are often confronted with frustrating situations in the health care system including serious workplace violence against clinicians. A meta-analysis found that the overall prevalence of workplace violence was 62.4% among Chinese health workers. Regardless of the unsafe clinical environment, Chinese health workers are always committed to provide timely health services without any hesitation or reservations. For instance, as of February 12, 2020, a total of 189 external expert teams comprising 21,569 health workers from other regions of China have volunteered to work in Hubei province, disregarding the high risk of contracting the infection and the high mortality rate of the COVID-19 among health workers. Despite the Chinese authorities have announced relevant policies and actuating principles in a strategic manner, the COVID-19 outbreak has posted an emerging serious challenge for the mental health services in China. There are some limitations that need to be addressed. First, several online mental health services have been constructed across different areas, however, unified national management and coordination policies are still inadequate, which could result in uneven distribution and wastage of medical resources, let alone evaluating the efficacy of these services. Second, online mental health services are the predominant assistance measure and therefore, some people (e.g., older adults) who may have limited access to smartphones and the broadband internet, may benefit less from the services. Third, frontline health professionals may have limited time and energy to access to these services due to heavy workload. Fourth, based on experiences of SARS outbreak, some patients and health professionals would be traumatized by the COVID-2019 outbreak and still suffer from persistent psychiatric symptoms even after the outbreak. In a cross-sectional survey that enrolled 1,257 respondents the results revealed a high prevalence of mental health symptoms among health care workers treating patients with COVID-19 in China. Overall, 50.4%, 44.6%, 34.0%, and 71.5% of all participants reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and distress, respectively. Participants were divided in 3 groups (Wuhan, other regions in Hubei province, and regions outside Wuhan province) to compare interregional differences. Most participants were female, were nurses, were aged 26 to 40 years, were married, and worked in tertiary hospitals with a junior technical title. Nurses, women, those working in Wuhan, and frontline workers reported more severe symptoms on all measurements. The same study further indicated that being a woman and having an intermediate technical title were associated with experiencing severe depression, anxiety, and distress. Surveying more than 1,200 nurses and physicians in 34 hospitals in the Wuhan region and across mainland China, the authors found striking prevalence rates of symptoms of depression and anxiety; half of those responding identified at least mild depression on a validated screening instrument, and one-third reported insomnia. Approximately 14% of physicians and nearly 16% of nurses described moderate or severe depressive symptoms. Those at greatest risk for depressive and anxious symptoms included women, those with intermediate seniority titles (compared with those with junior roles), and those at the center of the epidemic in Wuhan. Another phenomenon of pandemia is that many countries in which numerous Chinese students pursue their academic studies announced travel restrictions on foreign nationals to contain COVID-19. International Chinese students are living with the fear that their families in China are susceptible and at risk of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), responsible for COVID-19. They also face discrimination and isolation in some countries due to being deemed as potential SARS-CoV-2 carriers. Some media outlets have used derogatory headlines, perpetuating stereotypes and prejudices about Chinese people. In China, 173 million people are living with mental health disorders, and neglect and stigma regarding these conditions still prevail in society. When epidemics arise, people with mental health disorders are generally more susceptible to infections for several reasons. Mental health disorders can increase the risk of infections, including pneumonia and once infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus which results in COVID-19 people with mental disorders can be exposed to more barriers in accessing timely health services, because of discrimination associated with mental ill-health in health-care settings. With the progress of the disease in China, clinical symptoms become severe and psychological problems in infected patients will change; therefore, psychological intervention measures should be targeted and adapted as appropriate. Interventions should be based on a comprehensive assessment of risk factors leading to psychological issues, including poor mental health before a crisis, bereavement, injury to self or family members, life threatening circumstances, panic, separation from family and low household income.