Support for helpers in the pandemic – University of Innsbruck
The working group Emergency Psychology and Psychotraumatology at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Innsbruck supports helpers in the Covid pandemic in the South Caucasus in an EU project. With an online library, the researchers enable the transfer of knowledge in the field of psychosocial help for volunteers in the health sector.
The project “IPP – Increasing Knowledge and Partnerships on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Helpers in Pandemics” enables the Armenian and Georgian Red Cross together with other regional network partners to improve services in the field of mental health and psychosocial support. It also offers helpers in pandemics or epidemics targeted and effective support.
“Our goal is to strengthen the role of the European Union knowledge network for civil protection within the so-called Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) as an integrative platform for the exchange of knowledge, expertise, best practices and networks in Armenia and Georgia”, says Alexander Kreh, senior lecturer in the working group Emergency Psychology and Psychotraumatology. The project partners are the Austrian, Armenian and Georgian Red Cross, the Ilia State University in Tbilisi and the University of Innsbruck. In addition, various regional network partners in Georgia and Armenia are involved.
Health work as a risk factor for mental health
In August and September 2021, a time when the numbers of Covid-19 infections were high in both Georgia and Armenia, the working group Emergency Psychology and Psychotraumatology carried out surveys on the needs and especially the demands of helpers during the pandemic carried out. Helpers from various areas were interviewed, including volunteers and full-time employees of the Armenian and Georgian Red Cross Societies, nursing staff from geriatric care, hospital staff and employees in hotlines.
“Our surveys revealed that there are gaps in psychosocial support. A significantly low level of well-being is significant for around a third of those exclusively in Armenia and almost half of those in Georgia. Depending on the phase of the pandemic, we see similar effects among helpers in German-speaking countries,” says Alexander Kreh. These proportions are well above the figures known from European studies from before the pandemic. A large number of studies during the Covid-19 pandemic show that working in the health sector, especially in nursing, is a risk factor for negative mental health effects.
“In our interviews we saw that a lack of resources such as protective equipment or ventilators, rapidly changing information, one’s own personal impact, unpredictability of the development of the pandemic or a high degree of exposure with a high risk of infection are recorded as stressful,” Kreh continues.
Online Psychosocial Support Library
Based on the surveys and research into the materials available in the countries, the main product of the project is currently being developed and distributed: an innovative one online library for training and knowledge exchange with helpers including best practice examples for psychosocial support in pandemics. The library is constantly being expanded and should contain a variety of materials from short interviews with helpers, videos, podcasts, short reports and instructions as well as presentations.
“Currently there are additional challenges for helpers in Georgia and Armenia due to the effects of the war in Ukraine or the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In order to expand the online library thematically and regionally, we are currently looking for funding,” explains Alexander Kreh.
To the online library of the IPP project: https://whocares-pss.info/