NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s recently launched psychiatric tele-counselling services, ‘Samarthan’, for all doctors, nurses and healthcare professionals have not found many takers despite the coronavirus pandemic taking a toll on the mental health of people as well frontline workers.
The services named, Samarthan, by the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IBHAS) are available round-the-clock from its emergency services and the psychiatric department of Covid hospitals.
The AAP government in collaboration with the Delhi Medical Council (DMA) and the Delhi Medical Association had officially launched the services on June 17. Dr Nimesh Desai, director of the IHBAS said the provision for counselling for healthcare workers (HCWs) was initiated by the hospital about 6-7 weeks ago.
However, only 11 frontline workers have approached for the counselling, so far. “Till date, the response is very poor. We had only 11 frontline workers calling us. Last week, four HCWs approached us for the counselling. More doctors and staff should come up and talk about their mental health,” Dr Desai said.
Dr Desai added that a lot of factors are restricting the HCWs to speak up on their mental health and seek help from psychiatrists.
“The majority of doctors tend to disagree with the fact that they could face any depression or anxiety. There is also a fear of stigma – on how their fellow workers after seeking counselling, and that might lead to a job loss. Another reason is that everyone may not be comfortable seeking help over audio or video communication,” Dr Desai said.
So far, most of the healthcare workers who have approached for the counselling have spoken on poor facilities, including PPE kits quality, being provided to them on duty at a Covid-19 ward. Dr Girish Tyagi, president of the DMA, said less publicity of the programme led to fewer healthcare workers approaching the doctors.