Mental Health and Access to Information in Times of COVID-19: The Role of Social Work

Ana C. Romea, Diana Valero, Carmen Elboj and Patricia Melgar
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Ana C. Romea: Faculty of Communication and Social Sciences, San Jorge University, Villanueva de Gállego, 50830 Zaragoza, Spain
Diana Valero: Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Carmen Elboj: Department of Psychology and Sociology, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
Patricia Melgar: Department of Pedagogy, University of Girona, 17004 Girona, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 8, 1-12

Abstract: The confinements and limited social interactions that have derived from COVID-19 have aggravated the situation of people with previous pathologies. As a result, access to health and its rehabilitation or support resources has been limited and redirected toward online care. People with mental health problems have considerably suffered during the pandemic because, for many of them, accessing different information resources through telematic means proved to be a great difficulty in their everyday lives. This exploratory research work aims to establish which elements have successfully facilitated access to online information for people with mental health problems. This is especially urgent in times of COVID-19 when misinformation has significantly harmed this group. To do so, we followed the communicative methodology and held interviews with two professionals and nine users who participated in the case study. The main results show that, in developing digital communicative competencies in accessing information with this group, individualization of care to overcome barriers, the link with social workers as references of truthful information, and the importance of emotional work and interactions are critical elements.

Keywords: social work; mental health; socially vulnerable groups; COVID-19; pandemic; health inequalities; social intervention; ICT (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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