Clinical condition, Resuscitation and Medical-Psychological Care of Severe COVID-19 patients (part 2)

[Pulmonary rehabilitation, return home: the issues of psychic care for severe Covid-19 patients]

Upon discharge from the ICU, most severe post-Covid-19 patients are considered out of danger and on the mend. A large proportion of these patients are able to go home, but some continue to be frail and suffer from the side effects of the disease and the past heavy hospitalization. Others do not have the necessary support at home. Pulmonary rehabilitation is becoming a critical step in prognosis and a comfortable return home. It allows many patients to regain confidence in their body and its potential, to bridge the gap between a medically safe passive position and daily life, which should become as independent as possible, and to optimally reduce the risks of regression or relapse.

[Psychological support for long Covid patients during a rehabilitation stay]

Covid long affects each patient differently. This disorder can occur in people with both severe and mild forms of the disease. It is often a series of symptoms that disrupt different areas of life in a very variable way. These symptoms can change rapidly. Moreover, several symptoms are associated and fluctuate (between aggravation and recovery) during very variable periods, which leads to a mosaic diagnosis and engages the need for multidisciplinary management.

[Professional commitment and work in psychiatry]

The practice of care in a psychiatric service, whether outpatient or inpatient, appears more than ever to be a personal commitment. How can we conceive it despite the difficulties of the profession, which make new professionals hesitate to join it? There is now open talk of a "crisis in psychiatry", of professionals leaving the profession. However, many observers and caregivers manage to give meaning to this demanding profession, at the crossroads between disciplines and institutions. The activity is constantly evolving, shaped as much by the advent of multiple theoretical frameworks as by societal movements. The number of people using this discipline, which is now also called "mental health" care, is constantly increasing, while at the same time all the players are struggling to recruit professionals. However, patients who have become users can testify to the quality of the caregivers.