THE EVALUATION OF TELEHEALTH SERVICES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON LEVELS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL GROWTH COVID-19 PANDEMİSİ SIRASINDA SUNULAN TELESAĞLIK HİZMETİNİN PSİKOLOJİK GELİŞİM DÜZEYLERİ ÜZERİNE DEĞERLENDİRİLMESİ
Istanbul Tip Fakultesi Dergisi, cilt.86, sa.2, ss.166-175, 2023 (ESCI, Scopus, TRDizin)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 86 Sayı: 2
- Basım Tarihi: 2023
- Doi Numarası: 10.26650/iuitfd.1218085
- Dergi Adı: Istanbul Tip Fakultesi Dergisi
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.166-175
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Cohort, COVID-19, psychological growth, telehealth service, vaccination
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
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.