WOMEN’S MENTAL HEALTH: THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 AND THE NEED FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION TO ADDRESS IT
*Executive Summary:*
As we commemorate World Mental Health Day 2021, part of the global pandemic response governments needs to invest in is mental health interventions that are comprehensive, innovative, available, and accessible. Emergency mental health and psychosocial support must be provided for women during the pandemic, as well as during the recovery phase post pandemic.
Research documented by Brian J. Honermann on past epidemics highlighted the consequences of infectious disease outbreaks on mental health. Even though the COVID-19 pandemic is a physical health crisis, it has also contributed greatly as a major mental health crisis for women. Good mental health is critical to the functioning of all aspects of society. Therefore, a focus on the mental wellbeing of every member of society should be integrated into the COVID-19 pandemic response and recovery phase.
Although the pandemic severely and negatively impacted the mental health and wellbeing of the society at large; women constitute the demographics that has been highly impacted with mental health burden. Along with frontline workers and first responders (who are also mostly women), children, and older people. This is due in part to the fact that beside being able to quickly slide into the increased caregiving role, women who contract the virus or are taking care of someone with the virus were mentally distressed by the immediate health effects and the consequences of physical isolation. Adding to these stressors, is the fact that most women who need to access a wide range of reproductive healthcare services during the lockdown were unable to do so, as funds and attention were repurposed directly for the Covid-19 emergency response
Also, women are bearing the brunt of increased stress at home, taking care of everyone under their care, with little or no consideration of the impact these may have on their mental health. Women in low-income settings are even at greater risk of having their mental health needs overlooked entirely.
*Background information*
A survey of the stress levels of the outbreak in the Indian population during this COVID-19 pandemic indicates that 66% of women reported being stressed compared to 34% of men. In the current pandemic situation, pregnant women and new mothers are especially likely to be anxious due to difficulties associated with accessing health care services, finding social support, and the fears of being infected.
In some family arrangements, there has been an increased burden on women to take on additional duties of caregiving such as homeschooling children and taking care of older relatives. Also, as with the increased prevalence of childhood abuse, the situation with restrictions on movement, and lockdown stress, increased incidence of violence towards women by their partners/family member.
“The pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing vulnerabilities for women in social, political, and economic systems. These in turn are amplifying the impacts of the pandemic on women’s mental health”.
*Situational analysis*
*Economic Impact:* Compounded economic impacts are felt especially by women and girls, who generally earn less, save less, and hold insecure jobs or live close to poverty. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many women to live with the fear of losing their means of livelihood.
*Frontline response:* Globally, women make up 70 percent of the healthcare workforce and are more likely to be front-line health workers, especially nurses, midwives, and community health workers. They also comprise most health facility service staff, playing a crucial role in fighting the outbreak and saving lives. However, they are under exceptional stress. They are burdened with extreme workloads, make difficult decisions during every work shift, risk becoming infected and spreading infection to their family members and communities, face stigmatization, and witness the deaths of many patients.
*Exposure to Domestic Violence:* As the COVID-19 pandemic deepens economic and social stresses, coupled with Public health measures such as social isolations, restriction of movements: gender-based violence is increasing at an alarming rate. Many women are being forced to ‘lockdown’ at home with their abusers while services to support such victims and survivors are either disrupted or has been made inaccessible. It has been estimated that globally 31 million additional cases of gender-based violence can be expected to occur if the outbreak continues.
Inability to access basic healthcare when needed: While early reports by George Bwire Reveals a higher mobility and mortality rate among men with COVID-19, the health of women is more generally and adversely impacted by the reallocation of resources and a shift of government priorities from other regular healthcare services. Most women seeking routine primary care including sexual and reproductive health services are unable to access care easily.
Increase stress from home care work: With children out-of-school, heightened care needs of older persons, and overwhelming health services, women have had to escalate efforts to take care of their families’ immediate needs and to maintain the home front, at the expense of their physical and mental health.
What has been done
During the past few months, efforts to support women with mental health vulnerability have been initiated. Innovative ways of providing mental health services have been implemented, and initiatives to strengthen psychosocial support have sprung up these are reactionary measures set up to address the already escalating problems. Yet, the sheer size of the problem, along with other socio-economic burdens of the pandemic and low investment in mental health interventions, mean that most mental health needs remain unaddressed.
*Recommendations*
• All Social Service Agencies should develop and include mental health response strategies that incorporates concrete framework on how to protect women’s mental wellbeing during pandemic in their health emergency response plan.
• Also, they should design and include communicate and awareness strategies on how to manage mental health challenges during health emergencies, including where women can seek help.
• Government at all levels needs to make provisions for emergency mental health and psychosocial support for women for this ongoing pandemic, as well as during the recovery phase post pandemic by investing in mental health interventions that are comprehensive, innovative, available, and accessible.
• The global Covid-19 response team should Adopt a comprehensive mental health intervention approach to the COVID-19 emergency response. As a matter of urgency, mental health response strategy should be standardized as a policy framework/mechanism for all global health emergencies.
IMO CHINASA. U. BSC, MDSS, MAIDP
International Development/Global Health Policy Strategist
Research Fellow, Center for Global Health, University of Chicago Medicine.
GPHAP Fellow, Graduate Program in Health Administration and Policy- Global Health Track
Fmr Niger State Advisor @ Evidence for Action- MamaYe
Co-Founder- African Youth Employment Initiatives- AYEI
(Ebola Hero, ONE Champion, Ashoka Scholar, YALI RLC Fellow, Global Citizen)
Chinasa Ude Imo is an international development and global health policy strategist with over eight years’ experience working in the development health sector. Her expertise span across improving access to quality care for women and children in low-resourced and volatile settings. She is strongly suited in designing and implementing programs that focus on maternal, newborn, and adolescent reproductive health and rights, led pro-health policy advocacies, build capacities of multi-stakeholder’s coalitions on social accountability and evidence-based policy engagements, provide technical support to ministries on health financing strategies and systems strengthening. She is also a communications and content development specialist. She has participated in health emergency preparedness and response as a humanitarian/risk communications specialist during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and other endemic outbreaks in Nigeria. Her work experiences span across Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana, and The United States. Chinasa holds a Master’s degree in International Development Policy from the University of Chicago, a Master’s degree in Diplomacy and Strategic Studies from the University of Lagos, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Administration from Nnamdi Azikiwe University.
