Esther O Okogbenin1,
Omonefe J Seb-Akahomen2
For correspondence:- Omonefe Seb-Akahomen Email: sebakahomen@gmail.com Tel: +2348037575629
Published: 30 December 2020
Citation: Okogbenin EO, Seb-Akahomen OJ. Tele-mental health application in response to COVID-19 pandemic: Experience at Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Nigeria. Trop J Med Dent Pract 2020; 1(2):79-85 doi: https://doi.org/10.47227/tjmdp/v1i2.4
© 2020 The author(s).
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..
The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) is rapidly engulfing the world. It is highly contagious with significant morbidity and mortality which has impacted health systems and the economy of nations. As people across the world struggle with the difficulties of isolation, social distancing, disruptions in social services and the rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, concerns about maintaining good mental health have emerged. Mental health challenges are a major source of distress and suffering and if unattended could pose management problems which will likely result in a significant increase in morbidity and mortality. Considering the constraints in delivering mental health care during the pandemic, the use of technological innovations in mental health has gained significant attention in recent times. The uses, effectiveness and benefits of tele-mental health have been well established. In this report, we present our experience in using tele-mental health to provide mental health and psychosocial support for patients with COVID-19 at the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua Nigeria. Empirical findings revealed that persons infected with COVID-19 who received such care had good outcomes. We therefore recommend that other health care institutions providing treatment for persons with COVID-19, replicate these practices in order to facilitate better health outcomes for persons with COVID-19
