HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL EMPOWERMENT ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE WORK FORCE MODEL TO DELIVER PERSON-CENTERED CARE IN A PSYCHIATRIC SERVICE DURING THE PANDEMIC

Abstract

Background: Healthcare professional specialties, including psychiatry, have had to adapt to the unprecedented challenges created by COVID-19 by transforming the service to benefit patients and improve sustainability of the workforce.Methods: This short paper provides an experiential perspective and highlights a selection of the recent relevant guidance and key publications in the field while outlining examples of practical adaptations made by mental healthcare professionals to rapidly organize a “virtual” person-centered model of care to deliver a hybrid psychiatric service while maintaining staff mental and physical well-being.Results: Mental healthcare professionals have risen to the challenge of COVID-19 by reconfiguring the current model of care and advancing in the use of technology to provide a hybrid model of patient care. With the unprecedented situation created by COVID-19, these rapid developments promoted innovative ways of working that could be beneficial, flexible and improve patient care as well as potentially create a more healthy work–life balance for staff in the medium to longer term.Conclusions: COVID-19 is the greatest public health challenge in the 21st century to date. Mental healthcare professionals have demonstrated an ability to successfully and rapidly adapt to create a virtual way of working and provide a more flexible person-centered model of care for patients. By shifting conventional work patterns, the situation allowed the opportunity to rethink current healthcare delivery. The unprecedented scenario empowered healthcare professionals to address inefficiencies and system failures in the current system and advance in ways of working which could potentially improve the sustainability of the limited healthcare workforce within an already pressurized system and promote a more person-centered model of care.