Elderly and people with Chronic Conditions - Mental Health
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are required to stay at home to protect themselves and prevent the spread of the disease, including young people. Children have been out of school and as a result, many of them may be spending more time on screens to complete online activities as part of home...schooling, socializing with peers or playing video games given that outdoor activities may be restricted due to lockdowns. This infographic provides important information on what you need to know in regard to excessive screen use and gaming during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also stresses the importance of recognizing the signs of excessive screen use and taking action to ensure online safety for young people during this pandemic.
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Mental health conditions affect one in 10 people at any one time and account for a large proportion of non-fatal disease burden. There is a high degree of comorbidity between mental health conditions such as depression and other noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including cardiovascular disease, diab...etes and alcohol-use disorders. Mental disorders share common features with other NCDs, including many underlying causes and overarching consequences, their high interdependency and tendency to co-occur, and their predilection to being best managed using integrated approaches.
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Mental disorders impose an enormous burden on society, accounting for almost one in three years lived with disability globally. •In addition to their health impact, mental disorders cause a significant economic burden due to lost economic output and the link between mental disorders and costly, po...tentially fatal conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV, and obesity.•80% of the people likely to experience an episode of a mental disorder in their lifetime come from low- and middle-income countries.• Two of the most common forms of mental disorders, anxiety and depression, are prevalent, disabling, and respond to a range of treatments that are safe and effective. Yet, owing to stigma and inadequate funding, these disorders are not being treated in most primary care and community settings.
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To understand the mental health treatment gap in the Region of the Americas by examining the prevalence of mental health disorders, use of mental health services, and the global burden of disease.
Poverty, HIV and other disease burdens, coupled with common mental disorders including alcohol and other substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder, clinical and postnatal depression, distress, and anxiety, impact how caregivers meet the needs of children. When mental health is not consi...dered or addressed, there can be a significant impact on an individual, their family and the community.
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The IFRC Psychosocial Centre has published a guidance note providing an overview of the psychosocial consequences of virus outbreaks, with a focus on mpox, and outlines key considerations for MHPSS programming.
The current mpox outbreaks present numerous challenges for responding National Societi...es. A key issue is addressing stigma as individuals infected, or suspected of having mpox may experience social ostracization, discrimination, and even violence. In many African communities, where cultural and social norms are vital to community health, considering the cultural and psychosocial implications of virus outbreaks is integral for effective disease management. In addition, Red Cross Red Crescent staff and volunteers may be personally exposed and working in complex environments with rumours and misinformation generating fear and anxiety. This guidance addresses the key mental health and psychosocial support implications of the ongoing mpox crisis.
Guleed Dualeh, MHPSS Advisor
This guidance note is intended for Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies and IFRC departments who may be responding to mpox in their country, or region. It includes guidance on:
Common reactions and behaviours in epidemics
Caring for staff and volunteers in health emergencies
Integration of MHPSS considerations for into health responses
Links to existing relevant materials
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Introduction The novel Coronavirus (nCoV) epidemic in 2019 -2020 has recently emerged. The route of transmission is not totally known, although it is known that it can spread from person to person, and local health care systems may be ill-equipped to handle a large-scale outbreak. Furthermore, misco...nceptions and misinformation about the disease often spreads rapidly in such epidemics.
In previous epidemics mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) has been identified as a key priority. MHPSS ensures the well-being of the affected populations, and counter-acts the threats to public health and safety that fear, stigmatization and misconception pose. Access to information, knowledge about the disease and how it spreads, make it easier for the affected to feel supported and calm, and to comply with instructions. Furthermore, psychosocial support to staff and volunteers help the operation as work conditions are extremely stressful.
This briefing note provides background knowledge on the MHPSS aspects related to nCoV and suggests MHPSS activities that can be implemented. The messages can be helpful for those in contact with patients or relatives and feel the strain of working and living during the epidemic. The briefing is aimed both at those working in any capacity with those affected by nCoV and for the MHPSS responders who implement MHPSS activities and interventions for everyone affected.
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The world faces grave consequences from the lack of available mental health services and treatment. Mental illness impacts every country, culture and community, with the World Health Organization (WHO) stating that 10% of the global burden of disease is related to mental, neurological and substance ...use disorders. In low-and middle-income countries, more than 75% of people with mental disorders receive no treatment at all for their disorder. During 2020, as a result of the global pandemic, 93% of countries reported their mental health services were either halted or interrupted (WHO, 2020e). WHO reported a 25% increase in depression and anxiety alone during the pandemic. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates depression and anxiety cost the global economy US $1 trillion dollars a year. All nurses have a health care role in mental health and substance use. ICN strongly advocates for the investment of further education and professional development in this area in order to support individuals and communities achieve the highest attainable standard of health which includes
physical, mental and social wellbeing.
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The article "Non-communicable diseases, injuries, and mental ill-health in Africa: the role of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention" examines the role of the Africa CDC in addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), injuries, and mental health across the continent. It highlights ho...w Africa CDC, originally focused on communicable disease response, has expanded its mandate to include NCDs and mental health, driven by the high mortality and morbidity associated with these conditions.
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The mental health of women not only adversely affects them, but its impact on their
developing infant is also severe. If the ability of women to take care of their baby is
compromised, the survival and development of the infant is jeopardized. Maternal
depression in resource-constrained settings ...is linked directly to lower infant birth
weight, higher rates of malnutrition and stunting, higher rates of diarrhoeal disease,
infectious illness and hospital admission and reduced completion of recommended
schedules of immunization in children. It also adversely affects physical, cognitive,
social, behavioural and emotional development of children (1).
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The current COVID-19 epidemic, like other infectious disease outbreak
previously, imposes to Child Protection actors to work and deliver services with
great creativity and flexibility, especially in those areas of interventions
traditionally relying on group-gathering (i.e. Child Friendly Spaces)... and face-toface
interactions.
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Experiences and recommendations from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.
Measures imposed by governments to prevent the spread of the disease, including lockdown restrictions, quarantines, physical distancing, and their economic and social consequences, further increase this dist...ress and the risk of mental health problems.
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Interim Guidance.
A number of medical problems have been reported in survivors, including mental health issues. Ebola virus may persist in some body fluids, including semen. Ebola survivors need comprehensive support for the medical and psychosocial challenges they face and also to minimize the ...risk of continued Ebola virus transmission. WHO has developed this document to guide health services on how to provide quality care to survivors of Ebola virus disease
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Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine 2022:13 25–40
Chagas disease (CD) or American trypanosomiasis is a neglected parasitic disease associated with significant mortality and morbidity that includes long-term disability, social stigma and a mental health toll. Perceived as a disease of the ve...ry poor, this infection, once limited to rural areas of Latin America (LA), has now spread via migration to non-endemic areas and countries, where transmission is maintained via non-vectorial routes.
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This document provides technical guidance on concepts, definitions, indicators, criteria, milestones and tools to assist leprosy programmes in their journey towards the goals of interruption of transmission and elimination of leprosy disease and through the post-elimination period. Importantly, it p...rovides criteria with benchmarks, where possible, for all key aspects of leprosy programmes and services. Not only those related to elimination efforts, but also those related to diagnosis and management of leprosy, leprosy-related disabilities, mental wellbeing, stigma and discrimination and inclusion and participation of persons affected by leprosy. The document emphasises that the elimination of leprosy is a long-term, continuous journey on the one hand, while, on the other, clear milestones can be recognised on the way and programme implementation can be assessed against benchmarks, guiding appropriate action to keep the programme on track.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as ‘a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community’. Mental illn...ess refers to all of the diagnosable mental disorders, which are characterised by abnormalities in thinking, feelings or behaviours. Mental illness is closely related to vulnerability, both in its causes and in its effects. Globally, 14 per cent of the global burden of disease is attributed to mental illness – with 75 per cent of those affected being found in low-income countries – which includes a broad spectrum of diagnoses, from common mental illnesses such as anxiety and
substance abuse, to severe illnesses like psychosis.
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There is growing understanding and high-level endorsement of the importance of strong collaborative multisectoral approaches to address a broad range of social, economic and governance issues for the prevention and control of noncommunicable disease (NCDs) and mental health conditions. In 2019, Worl...d Health Organization (WHO) Member States requested the WHO Director-General to provide an analysis across countries of successful approaches for the prevention and control of NCDs that used multisectoral action. This WebAnnex to the Global mapping report on multisectoral actions to strengthen the prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases and mental health conditions details experiences from around the world.
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There is growing understanding and high-level endorsement of the importance of strong collaborative multisectoral approaches to address a broad range of social, economic and governance issues for the prevention and control of noncommunicable disease (NCDs) and mental health conditions. In 2019, Worl...d Health Organization (WHO) Member States requested the WHO Director-General to provide an analysis across countries of successful approaches for the prevention and control of NCDs that used multisectoral action.This report describes the experiences of different countries, areas and territories in implementing multisectoral actions to tackle NCDs and is the first step to address their request for an analysis of such efforts
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Arabic Version of Guidance for mental health and psychosocial support for COVID-19