Work plan of psychological assistance and medical social work amid COVID-19 outbreak

Work plan of psychological assistance and social work services in makeshift hospitals

Aims:
1. Provide psychological support and counselling for patients in the makeshift hospitals, and provide crisis intervention and psychiatric diagnosis and treatment services for those in psychological crisis.
2. Provide psychological support for medical workers and relevant service guarantees for personnel working in makeshift hospitals to relieve their psychological burnout after intense work.

Principles:
1. Psychological assistance and medical social work services shall be included in the work of makeshift hospitals for overall deployment.
2. Each makeshift hospital shouldcoordinate with mental health professionalsfrom pairing assistance regions and local medical social workers under unified service plans.
3. Psychological assistance and medical social work services should cooperate with diagnoses and treatments in makeshift hospitals.
4. Psychological assistance workers and medical social workers should promise to strictly protect their patients’ privacy.

Measures:
1. Create an environment conducive to maintaining mental health
(1) Encourage patients to adapt to the group living environment in makeshift hospitals as soon as possible.
(2) Cooperate with treatment and examination, and adjust the daily routines according to changes in health conditions.
(3) Encourage patients to keep in touch with their families and friends.
(4) Encourage patients to maintain their original study and work plans suitable for their physical conditions.
(5) Provide QR-codes and hotline numbers for psychological assistance and social work services and for publicity and education.
(6) Play light background music or entertainment programs regularly.
(7) Coordinate with treatment and nursing work, adjust and control the lighting, and organize activities conducive to recovery.
(8) Use community resources to help patients solve urgent living difficulties.

2. Carry out psychological assistance and crisis intervention for patients
(1) Guide patients to be involved in self-psychological services, and identify high-risk patients as soon as possible.
(2)Be immediately ware of patients with psychological behaviour problems and a past psychiatric illness history.
(3) Establish independent spaces as psychological and social work service rooms or psychiatric examination rooms, if possible.
(4) Strengthen safety inspection of patients before entering makeshift hospitals.
(5) Establish patient archives for psychological assistance and social work services.

3. Provide medical workers with psychological support and assistance
(1) Notice and observe the emotional changes of medical workers, provide timely emotional support, and give psychological first aid to medical workers when they encounter stressful events.
(2) Provide medical workers with audios and videos to relieve stress and encourage them to do self-psychological adjustment.
(3) Select fixed places to set up spiritual stations for medical workers, and organize regular exchange and share sessions between medical workers.

Organization and implementation:
1. Organize and manage psychological assistance and medical social work services.
2. Establish work mechanisms of overall planning and coordination, clear up division of labour and respective responsibilities.
3. Train nurses to assist in psychological services.
4. Guide patients to carry out self-psychological assistance.