Psychosocial Support during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: Activities of Multidisciplinary Mental Health Professionals

Jinhee Hyun; Sungeun You; Sunju Sohn; Seok Joo Kim; Jeongyee Bae; Myungjae Baik; In Hee Cho; Hyunjung Choi; Kyeong Sook Choi; Chan Seung Chung; Chanyoung Jeong; Hyesun Joo; Eunji Kim; Heeguk Kim; Hyun Soo Kim; Jinsun Ko; Jung Hyun Lee; Sang Min Lee; So Hee Lee; Un Sun Chung

doi:10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e211

Psychosocial Support during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Korea: Activities of Multidisciplinary Mental Health Professionals

J Korean Med Sci. 2020 Jun 8;35(22):e211. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e211.

Authors

Jinhee Hyun¹, Sungeun You², Sunju Sohn³, Seok Joo Kim¹, Jeongyee Bae⁴, Myungjae Baik⁵, In Hee Cho⁶, Hyunjung Choi², Kyeong Sook Choi⁷, Chan Seung Chung⁸, Chanyoung Jeong⁹, Hyesun Joo¹⁰, Eunji Kim¹¹, Heeguk Kim¹², Hyun Soo Kim¹³, Jinsun Ko¹⁴, Jung Hyun Lee¹⁵, Sang Min Lee¹⁶, So Hee Lee¹⁷, Un Sun Chung¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social Welfare, College of Social Sciences, Daegu University, Gyeongsan, Korea.
² Department of Psychology, College of Social Sciences, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
³ Department of Social Welfare, College of Humanities & Social Sciences, Cheongju University, Cheongju, Korea.
⁴ School of Nursing, Inje University, Busan, Korea.
⁵ Mental Health Center, The Armed Forces Capital Hospital, Seongnam, Korea.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry, WIM Psychiatric Clinic, Seongnam, Korea.
⁷ Department of Neuropsychiatry, Eulji University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Maum Dream Clinic, Seoul, Korea.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, Saemirae Hospital, Gwangju, Korea.
¹⁰ Korea Trauma Research & Education Institute, Seoul, Korea.
¹¹ MaumToDoc Psychiatric Clinic, Ansan, Korea.
¹² Department of Social Welfare, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sangji University, Wonju, Korea.
¹³ Department of Psychiatry, Myongji Hospital, Goyang, Korea.
¹⁴ Our Neighborhood Mental Health Research Institute, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁵ National Center for Disaster Trauma, National Center for Mental Health, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁶ Department of Psychiatry, Kyung Hee University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁷ Department of Psychiatry, National Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
¹⁸ Department of Psychiatry, Kyungpook National University Children's Hospital, Daegu, Korea. unsunchung@gmail.com.

Abstract

As of April 18, 2020, there have been a total of 10,653 confirmed cases and 232 deaths due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea. The pathogen spread quickly, and the outbreak caused nationwide anxiety and shock. This study presented the anecdotal records that provided a detailed process of the multidisciplinary teamwork in mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Psychosocial support is no less important than infection control during an epidemic, and collaboration and networking are at the core of disaster management. Thus, a multidisciplinary team of mental health professionals was immediately established and has collaborated effectively with its internal and external stakeholders for psychosocial support during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disaster; Mental Health; Multidisciplinary; Psychosocial Support.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Betacoronavirus
COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / psychology*
Health Personnel
Humans
Interprofessional Relations
Mental Health
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / psychology*
Psychosocial Support Systems*
Republic of Korea
SARS-CoV-2