[Once upon a time there was a place where we learned to listen. The Other Front line_voices for social justice]

Government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic generated a new wave of social inequalities for communities around the world living in unjust circumstances . Lockdowns and health measures overlooked housing conditions, transitions to virtual schooling, ignoring homes and families without the technological infrastructure and skills to access education, as well as overlooking the availability of an economic remainder. informal employment. The experiences of various communities around the world, from racialized/ethnic communities, homeless, migrants, elderly to young populations, were not reflected in the knowledge that guided the Government's responses; in fact, their experiences were involuntarily silenced . As a result of all this, it was necessary to create alliances with communities that lived in vulnerable conditions and that bore the great burden of the pandemic, to ensure that their voices were included in Public Health policies and practices.

Perceived access to general and mental healthcare in primary care in Colombia during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact both in general and mental healthcare, challenged the health systems worldwide, and affected their capacity to deliver essential health services. We aimed to describe perceived changes in ease of access to general and mental healthcare among patients with a diagnosis of depression and/or unhealthy alcohol use in Colombia.

Methods

This study is embedded in the DIADA project, a multicenter implementation research study aimed at evaluating the integration of mental healthcare in primary care in Colombia. Between November 2020 and August 2021, we conducted a COVID-19 pandemic impact assessment in a cohort of participants with newly diagnosed depression and/or unhealthy alcohol use part of DIADA project. We assessed the ease of access and factors related to perceived ease of access to general or mental healthcare, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

836 participants completed the COVID-19 pandemic impact assessment. About 30% of participants considered their mental health to be worse during the pandemic and 84.3% perceived access to general healthcare to be worse during the pandemic. Most of participants (85.8%) were unable to assess access to mental health services, but a significant proportion considered it to be worse. Experiencing worse ease of access to general healthcare was more frequent among women, patients with diagnosis of depression, and patients with comorbidities. Experiencing worse ease of access to mental healthcare was more frequent among patients aged between 30 and 49.9 years, from socioeconomic status between 4 and 6, affiliated to the contributive social security regime, attending urban study sites, and those who perceived their mental health was worse during the pandemic.

Discussion

Despite the overall perception of worse mental health during the pandemic, the use of mental healthcare was low compared to general healthcare. Ease of access was perceived to be worse compared to pre-pandemic. Ease of access and access were affected by geographical study site, socioeconomic status, age and gender. Our findings highlight the need for improved communication between patients and institutions, tailored strategies to adapt the healthcare provision to patients' characteristics, and continued efforts to strengthen the role of mental healthcare provision in primary care.

Implementing a Redcap-based research data collection system for mental health

BACKGROUND

The implementation of new technologies in medical research, such as novel big storage systems, has recently gained importance. Electronic data capture is a perfect example as it powerfully facilitates medical research. However, its implementation in resource-limited settings, where basic clinical resources, internet access, and human resources may be reduced might be a problem.

METHODS

In this paper we described our approach for building a network architecture for data collection to achieve our objectives using a REDCap® tool in Colombia and provide guidance for data collection in similar settings.

CONCLUSIONS

REDCap is a feasible and efficient electronic data capture software to use in similar contexts to Colombia. The software facilitated the whole data management process and is a way to build research capacities in resourced-limited settings.