Purpose
The purpose of this study was to describe the impacts of COVID-19 on mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) services in 130 WHO Member States, ahead of World Mental Health Day on Oct 10.
Research Questions
The study had no clearly stated questions or hypotheses in the article. However, using the statement of the study’s purpose, the research question appears to be the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) services in 130 WHO Member States. Additionally, the study’s hypothesis appears to be COVID-19 has a considerable effect on the mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) services in 130 WHO member nations.
Significance
There was no particular statement of significance found in this report. However, the article is important because it describes the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MNS services in 130 WHO Member States. This article also describes the psychological effects of the non-pharmaceutical interventions to manage the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the affected persons due to physical isolation, closure of schools, and widespread loss of employment (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020).
Background
The peer-reviewed articles used in this research study are current and address all the study variables. The article presents the survey results on the impact of COVID-19 on the MNS services in 130 Member States of the WHO. The analysis revealed significant disruptions on the community-based MNS preventive and promotive strategies. These impairments were demonstrated by the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment and the utilization of mental health facilities in some countries as centers for COVID-19 isolation (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020). Although several countries acknowledged the importance of putting measures to address the MNS services, few have committed these initiatives’ funding.
Theoretical Framework
There are no explicitly stated theoretical frameworks in the research article. However, the authors give a detailed history of the variables under study. There is a clear link between the relationship of the independent and dependent variables.
Sample
The samples under study were from 130 WHO Member States. The study aimed to determine the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) services. No inclusion or exclusion criteria for the sample participants were identified from the article. However, it appears that the countries in the study were selected based on their membership to the WHO.
Setting
This study was conducted in 130 WHO Member States on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MNS services in these countries. This article provides an analysis of the summary of the research findings from these studies. The sampling techniques used are not clearly stated, although the probability sampling technique appears to be utilized for sampling.
Design
This report was a secondary analysis of the results of a survey conducted in 130 WHO Member States ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10. These reports’ findings can be used to provide an overview of the disruptions on the MNS services in 130 Member States.
The Independent Variable
The independent variable is the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Dependent Variable
The mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) services in 130 WHO Member States.
Human Subject’s Issues/Ethics
The study was conducted in 130 WHO Member States; therefore, the approval of the institutional review boards was sought by the researchers. Informed consent and consent were required before the human subjects’ recruitment to identify the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental wellbeing. The participants were given the freedom to discontinue the study at any time without repercussions. The analysis of the survey respected the client’s right to confidentiality and privacy of their identity.
Research Design
The research design was an analysis of the results of a survey of the impact of COVID-19 on MNS services in 130 WHO Member States, ahead of World Mental Health Day on October 10.
Measures
The article has not elaborated on the methods used to collect data and analyze the survey results. However, the data on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MNS services appears to have been collected using preset questionnaires and interviews congruent to the research question. The authors do not clearly state the reliability and the validity of the research data. The use of interviews and questionnaires effectively collects information on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MNS services.
Methods
The study techniques were fairly presented in the article, survey was the main method outlined in data collection. It was utilized mainly because it can gather information through populations as it involved questionnaires and interviews.
Operational Definitions
The operational definitions of the terms used in the review are not provided. However, the definition of the terms mental, neurological and substance abuse services includes the services for promoting individuals’ psychological wellbeing, including diagnostic and treatment services. The COVID-19 is a respiratory infection by the coronaviruses that result in fever, dry cough, muscle aches and fevers.
Limitations
No limitations for the survey were stated by the authors. One of the limitations to this survey could be the limited sample size because it is a secondary analysis of the survey results. Another limitation in the study could be the lack of reliability and validity of data or standardized data collection methods. Furthermore, the data from the other countries, not members of the WHO, are not provided for a comprehensive generalization of the findings.
Threats to Internal Validity
The management of the research findings’ extraneous values are promoted through the countries’ inclusion based on their membership to the WHO.
Threats to Extraneous Variables
The study indicates strategic planning and measures to be undertaken by all stakeholders in controlling the confounding variables that may situationary or unintentionally affect the findings.
Analysis/Results
19 percent of the participating countries had disruptions in the MNS services due to the utilization of mental health facilities as centers for the isolation or the management of the COVID-19 patients. In 30 percent of the countries, insufficient deployment of healthcare personnel was the root of the MNS services’ disruptions (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020). In contrast, in 17 percent of the sample, the lack of personal protective gear was the major problem. Eighty-nine percent of the countries stated that mental health and psychological support initiatives were part of their COVID-19 management plan. Despite these considerations, only 17 percent of these countries had allocated funds to finance the support plans (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020). Additionally, this survey by the WHO found that disruptions in the MNS services limit people’s access to mental health support systems, resulting in an increased burden of mental illnesses. People who work in the informal sector in low-income countries are significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontline healthcare workers have increased workload due to the rising numbers of people diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease.
Discussion/ Practice Implications
the research article addressed the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the MNS services. The authors discussed the effects of the other pandemics like severe acute syndrome or Middle East respiratory syndrome on the admitted patients. 33 to 42 percent of these participants suffered from impaired memory, sad mood and anxiety (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020). The authors also presented the influence of the non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on COVID-19 in contributing to loss of employment, disruptions in learning, and physical isolations. Other effects of the disease on the unemployed and the frontline caregivers are also described in this survey. The authors suggest that there is a need to develop effective treatments and vaccines against the COVID-19 for success in fighting this pandemic. It is also imperative to reduce the lack of treatment of the at-risk populations’ mental health conditions, for instance, through increased funding (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020).
Conclusion
A generalized critique of the research shows that it was well done with few major limitations. The survey used data from 130 Member States of the WHO to develop recommendations for future practice. The large sample size is a strength of this article. The review also clearly outlined some of the reasons why there is impairment in the provision of the MNS services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The utilization of the MNS facilities as isolation centers, the lack of PPEs and the poor deployment of healthcare providers to address MNS services during this pandemic are some of the reasons attributable to poor psychological care (The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2020). However, a larger sample size comprising of all the nations in the world would effectively get the complete picture of the pandemic for generalizations. Furthermore, the survey needs to provide the data collection methods utilized to determine the validity and the reliability of the result.
References
The information on the sources of the data utilized in the article is clearly stated. Therefore, the survey was well referenced by the authors due to the ease of accessing the sources of the review’s information.
Reference
The Lancet Infectious Diseases (2020). The intersection of COVID-19 and mental health. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 20(11), 1217.