Nov. 28, 2022
Europe
Publication
Engaging and empowering people and communities,
Strengthening governance and accountability,
Reorienting the model of care,
Coordinating services within and across sectors,
Creating an enabling environment
Integration of mental health support teams in COVID-19 units within French general hospitals: a qualitative study
This study aimed to explore the lived experience of mental health professionals (mhPs) who had been redeployed on support teams (MHSTs) implemented in general hospital for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and their families, in order to scale up mental and physical health care integration in times of epidemic crisis.
Person- and family-centered approach of integrated care (IC) is essential to address fragmentation between mental and physical health care in times of epidemic crisis. Hospital and political leaders should support and draw from bottom-up mental health IC initiatives such as MHSTs, that embody this vision, in order to improve health systems preparedness for future crises.