Authors (including presenting author) :
YH Chan1, YY Chan1, SY Cheng1, J Liang1, YS Ng1
Affiliation :
1Department of Family Medicine & Primary Health Care, New Territories West Cluster (NTWC)
Introduction :
Patients with CMD in NTWC's GOPCs are handled by IMHP, which is run by a team of family physicians and social workers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, some patients had difficulty attending the IMHP service due to either GOPCs being converted to designated clinics or patient's hesitance to attend GOPCs. In order to provide psychological support to them during the 5th wave, patients were contacted through phone to assess their mental condition and provide support.
Objectives :
1) To assess the mental health of IMHP's patients with CMD via phone that had difficulty attending the clinic during the 5th wave of covid-19
2) To assess and address the stressors
3) To provide psychological support to these patients
Methodology :
Social workers contacted patients who were unable to attend the clinic physically via phone to assess their mental condition through PHQ9 and GAD7 questionnaires, as well as assessing and addressing the stressors. Psychological support was provided accordingly. For complicated cases, social workers would work with family physicians to provide concrete plans to the patients.
Result & Outcome :
Out of the 1027 patients, 725 were successfully contacted from February to October 2022.
Of those who were successfully contacted, 38% expressed unstable mood were related to current wave of Covid-19, with the highest rate (54%) in April 2022 and 32% were due to other causes.
For patients with depressive symptoms assessed by PHQ9, 59% had moderate depressive symptoms (PHQ9 score (10-19)), 36% had mild symptoms (PHQ9 score (0-9)) and 5% had severe symptoms (PHQ9 score (20-27)).
For patients with anxiety symptoms assessed by GAD7, 41% had moderate anxiety symptoms (GAD7 score (10-14)), 39% had mild symptoms (GAD7 score (0-9)) and 20% had severe symptoms (GAD7 score (15-21)).
The top three stressors for unstable mood were the fear of infecting Covid-19 (30%), followed by career and financial burden (15%), and physical illness (9%).
45% of the patients had their appointment adjusted after assessment by social workers and family physicians according to their mental condition.
The tele-consultation service provided appropriate mental support for patients who were unable to attend GOPCs during covid-19 pandemic.
