Health activists attached to the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), which functions as the Rajasthan chapter of the People’s Health Movement, sought measures on Wednesday for monitoring the mental health of COVID-19 patients and extending emotional support and care to them.
With the pandemic causing considerable mental stress, a patient had allegedly killed himself in a hospital here last week.
The JSA called upon the State government to ensure that every hospital treating COVID-19 positive persons had a psychiatrist or a mental health team readily available for interacting with the patients. These teams should meet the patients in person and give them appropriate counselling, it said.
JSA member Chhaya Pachauli, director of Chittorgarh-based Prayas Centre for Health Equity, said a system should be put in place for collecting regular feedback from COVID-19 patients and their families during the course of treatment. “For this, the government can create a simple mobile app or an online form, keeping the patient’s identity confidential,” she said.
Probe sought
The JSA has shot off a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot with the demand for a fair investigation into the alleged suicide by a 55-year-old COVID-19 patient in the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS) Hospital in Jaipur. The patient was said to be extremely worried about his health and the hospital allegedly did not provide him emotional support.
The JSA said a committee of experts should conduct a detailed clinical audit. Besides, a probe should be launched into the complaint of the family that they were not informed of the patient’s death for two days and his belongings were handed over to them after much delay.
