A Mental Health First Aid Service in an Italian University Public Hospital during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Outbreak

Nelson Mauro Maldonato, Mario Bottone, Alessandro Chiodi, Grazia Isabella Continisio, Raffaella De Falco, Marzia Duval, Benedetta Muzii, Gerarda Siani, Paolo Valerio, Roberto Vitelli and Cristiano Scandurra
Additional contact information
Nelson Mauro Maldonato: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy
Mario Bottone: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy
Alessandro Chiodi: Intradepartmental Program of Clinical Psychology, Federico II University Hospital, 80131 Naples, Italy
Grazia Isabella Continisio: Department of Translational Medical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, 80131 Naples, Italy
Raffaella De Falco: Intradepartmental Program of Clinical Psychology, Federico II University Hospital, 80131 Naples, Italy
Marzia Duval: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy
Benedetta Muzii: Department of Humanistic Studies, University of Naples Federico II, 80133 Naples, Italy
Gerarda Siani: Intradepartmental Program of Clinical Psychology, Federico II University Hospital, 80131 Naples, Italy
Paolo Valerio: Department of Neuroscience, University of Naples Federico II, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, 80131 Naples, Italy
Roberto Vitelli: Department of Neuroscience, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, University of Naples Federico II, 80138 Naples, Italy
Cristiano Scandurra: Department of Neuroscience, University of Naples Federico II, Reproductive Sciences and Dentistry, 80131 Naples, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 10, 1-12

Abstract: The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been extremely stressful and has produced fear and anxiety throughout the population, representing a psychological emergency. This work aimed at presenting a mental health first aid service established within an Italian university public hospital context to address four different population targets (i.e., people vulnerable to mental health problems, health-care professionals, people in isolation, and general citizenship). Specifically, the organizational structure comprising four different areas (i.e., management, clinical, communication, and research) and first data collected from the foundation of the service until 3 May 2020 are presented. Findings indicated that anxiety and fear of contagion were the main motivations prompting both the general population and health-care professionals to ask for a psychological help. Furthermore, findings indicate that clients’ current quality of life was perceived as lower than in the past but also that imagined in the future, highlighting the importance of psychological first aid interventions. This service may represent an example for helping mental health professionals in developing similar services in their local realities, promoting health and individual and community resilience.

Keywords: COVID-19; first aid; mental health; quality of life; psychological intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4244/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/10/4244/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:10:p:4244-:d:361496

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().