COVID-19: The disease of loneliness and solitary demise

Abstract

The birth of the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed working lives of British Asian general practitioners (GPs), such as one of the authors. The effects of the national lockdown and the subsequent loneliness have impacted every aspect of our lives and increased mental health problems. The added social isolation of local lockdowns, such as in Leicester, will undoubtedly exacerbate some health problems due to a lack of patient willingness to attend healthcare services and the postponement of some appointments. The lack of culturally competent support is likely to add to the isolation in non-English-speaking people. Thus, we should pre-empt these issues in a culturally effective manner. To prepare for subsequent waves, GPs are risk-stratifying patients for COVID-19 and have commenced ReSPECT care-plan conversations with higher-risk patients. But with the increased risk from COVID-19 to Black, Asian and minority ethnic patients, should this and other groups of patients also have a ReSPECT care plan? Is now the time to consider community-hospice settings for our palliative COVID-19 patients? This pandemic has uncovered a training need for healthcare professionals to feel more comfortable in discussing end of life as an integral consultation component. We should focus our efforts in alleviating suffering by achieving 'shared understanding' and 'negotiating management' of our ReSPECT conversations.