THE EVALUATION OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON LEVELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL GROWTH/COVID-19 PANDEMISI SIRASINDA SUNULAN TELESAGLIK HIZMETININ PSIKOLOJIK GELISIM DUZEYLERI UZERINE DEGERLENDIRILMESI

• Published in: İstanbul Tıp Fakültesi dergisi = Journal of the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Vol. 86; no. 2; p. 166
• Main Authors: Canbaz, Sevgi, Ozgulnar, Nuray, Celik, Meryem Merve Oren, Oyman, Eliz Kuman, Unyildiz, Esra Karaca, Karagul, Duygu Acar, Karabey, Selma, Onal, Ayse Emel, Durus, Sadiye Selin, Medetalibeyoglu, Alpay, Oncul, Mustafa Oral
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Istanbul University Press 01-06-2023
• Subjects: Behavior; Epidemics; Health behavior; Interpersonal relations; Medical personnel; Philosophy; Psychological aspects; Psychological development; Surveys; Telemedicine; Turkey; Vaccination; Turkey
• ISSN: 1305-6433
• DOI: 10.26650/IUITFD.1218085

Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic is considered a traumatic event. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of telehealth services offered at the Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine to health workers with presumed COVID-19 or close contact with a suspected/confirmed COVID-19 patient on pandemic management, vaccination, and psychological growth at one year after diagnosis. Materials and Methods: The cohort study included 237 employees with COVID-19/risky contact who were monitored remotely via a telehealth service provided between April 6 and July 31, 2020. First, they were followed up for 21 days with the telehealth service. Second, they were invited by phone to complete an online questionnaire and 94 (39.7%) of them participated. The questionnaire included questions about pandemic-related difficulties experienced during the last year and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI). Results: Of the 234 employees, 172 (73.5%) and 164 (70.1%) had the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, respectively. Employees who did not need psychological support had significantly lower PTGI change in self-perception and total scores than those who did not/could not receive psychological support (p=0.007 and p=0.016, respectively). Employees who used personal protective equipment (PPE) more carefully had a significantly higher PTGI self-perception score (p=0.005), life philosophy (p=0.014), interpersonal relationships (p=0.011), and total score (p=0.004) than employees who reported that they did not change how they use PPE and were sometimes careless. Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that health workers are showing evidence of posttraumatic growth by seeing the positives as well as the negatives caused by the pandemic. Keywords: Cohort, COVID-19, psychological growth, telehealth service, vaccination Amac: COVID-19 pandemisi travmatik bir olay olarak kabul edilmektedir. Bu calismanin amaci, Istanbul Tip Fakultesi'nde COVID-19 oldugu varsayilan veya supheli/dogrulanmis bir COVID-19 hastasi ile yakin temasta bulunan saglik calisanlarina sunulan telesaglik hizmetlerinin tanidan bir yil sonra pandemi yonetimi, asilama ve psikolojik gelisim uzerine etkilerini incelemektir. Gerec ve Yontem: Kohort tipindeki bu calismada, 6 Nisan-31 Temmuz 2020 tarihleri arasinda telesaglik hizmeti ile uzaktan izlenen COVID-19/riskli temasli 237 calisan dahil edildi. Ilk olarak telesaglik hizmeti ile 21 gun boyunca takip edildiler. Ikinci olarak, bir yil sonra cevrimici bir anketi doldurmalari icin telefonla arandilar. Katilimcilarin 94'u (%39,7) anketi doldurdu. Anket, son bir yilda yasanan pandemi ile ilgili zorluklar ve Travma Sonrasi Buyume Envanteri (PTGI) ile ilgili sorulari iceriyordu. Bulgular: Calismada 234 calisandan 172'si (%73,5) ve 164'u (%70,1) sirasiyla birinci ve ikinci doz COVID-19 asisi yaptirdi. Psikolojik destege ihtiyac duymayan calisanlarin benlik algisi ve toplam puanlarindaki PTGI degisimi, psikolojik destek almayan/ alamayanlara gore anlamli derecede daha dusuktu (sirasiyla p=0,007 ve p=0,016). Kisisel koruyucu ekipmani (KKD) daha dikkatli kullanan calisanlarin KKD kullanma seklini degistirmediklerini ve bazen dikkatsiz olduklarini bildiren calisanlara gore; PTGI benlik algisi puani (p=0,005), yasam felsefesi (p=0,014), kisilerarasi iliskiler (p=0,011) ve toplam puani (p=0,004) anlamli olarak daha yuksekti. Sonuc: Calismamizin sonuclari, saglik calisanlarinin pandeminin neden oldugu olumsuzluklarin yani sira olumlu yonlerini de gorerek, travma sonrasi buyumenin gerceklestigini ortaya koymaktadir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Kohort, COVID-19, psikolojik buyume, telesaglik hizmeti, asilama