Abstract
Lombardy was the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in Italy, and in March 2020 the rapid escalation in cases prompted the Italian Government to decree a mandatory lockdown and to introduce safety practices in mental health services. The general objective of the study is to evaluate the early impact of the Covid-19 emergency and quarantine on the well-being and work practices of mental health service personnel and professionals. Data were collected through an online survey of workers and professionals working with people with mental health problems in Lombardy in several outpatient and inpatient services. Their socio-demographic characteristics, professional background, description of working conditions during lockdown and psychological distress levels were collected. All analyses were performed on a sample of 241. Approximately, 31% of the participants obtained a severe score in at least one of the burnout dimensions, 11.6% showed moderate or severe levels of anxiety, and 6.6% had a moderate or severe level of depression. Different work conditions and patterns of distress were found for outpatient service workers and inpatient service workers. The overall impact of the Covid-19 emergency on mental health workers’ level of distress was mild, although a significant number of workers experienced severe levels of depersonalization and anxiety. More research is needed to assess specific predictive factors.
Highlights
Was one of the first countries to be severely affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic.The epicenter of the outbreak was located in the Lombardy region, the largest and most densely populated region of Italy with a total population of 10.06 million inhabitants in 2020, which is one-sixth of the Italian population
Of the 337 participant who began the online survey, 40 (11.9%) declared that they had suspended all professional activities during the Covid-19 emergency, and so they were excluded from the present study
A further 56 participants dropped out of the online survey after completing the socio-demographic section but before they had answered any job-related questions, they were excluded from the analysis
Summary
Was one of the first countries to be severely affected by the global Covid-19 pandemic. The epicenter of the outbreak was located in the Lombardy region, the largest and most densely populated region of Italy with a total population of 10.06 million inhabitants in 2020, which is one-sixth of the Italian population. The first Covid-19 cases in Lombardy were officially reported in the middle of February 2020, and the rapid escalation of the outbreak required the Italian Government to introduce a mandatory lockdown on 7 March 2020. By the end of September 2020, the National. Healthcare workers had to face a new disease as well as its potential effects on their mental health, including burnout and symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, grief and the development. Res. Public Health 2020, 17, 8615; doi:10.3390/ijerph17228615 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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