Telephone-based psychological crisis intervention: the Portuguese experience with COVID-19

Abstract

Portugal is one of the European countries that implemented early protective measures in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Portugal declared a state of emergency on 18 March, and a set of regional and national preventive public health measures was progressively implemented. Studies on the psychological impact of pandemics show evidence of the negative impact on mental health. Of particular concern are individuals with previous fragility (e.g. personal, family or occupational) and those undergoing life transitions. In this paper, we present a telephone-based psychological crisis intervention that was implemented to provide brief, appropriate, and timely psychological help. This intervention follows standard models of crisis intervention and is structured in five phases and five different intervention modules to take into account the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of specific risk groups. With these support services, we hope to help our community better cope with the immediate impact of the pandemic and to contribute to preventing serious mental health problems in the medium and long term.