Mental health challenges during the pandemic: an experience report

Abstract

The readjustment in the care of mental health patients during the Covid-19 pandemic was facilitated by changes in the current medical legislation. Telemedicine brought forth opportunities to treat, monitor and identify mental disorders in different ways. This article reports the experience of the mental health service in a teaching hospital and psychiatry residency program during this period. Outpatient care included telemedicine appointments and face-to-face visits, according to severity criteria, and the project Embracing Mental Health in Times of Pandemic was created to assist hospital health staff. The prospect for the future is the use of teleservice as a tool for mental health care, which requires better training for professionals and evaluating the quality of this modality.

Keywords:
Pandemics; Coronavirus infections; Mental health; Remote consultation