|
 
 |
| LETTER TO EDITOR |
|
| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 3
| Issue : 2 | Page : 72-73 |
|
Policy actions to alleviate psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences from Taiwan
Ming-Wei Lin1, Yawen Cheng2
1 Department of Psychiatry, Beitou Branch, Tri-Service General Hospital, National Defense Medical Center; Institute of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
2 Institute of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| Date of Submission | 24-Apr-2020 |
| Date of Acceptance | 29-Apr-2020 |
| Date of Web Publication | 9-Jun-2020 |
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Ming-Wei Lin
Institute of Health Policy and Management, College of Public Health, National Taiwan University, Taipei
Taiwan
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | 32 |
DOI: 10.4103/SHB.SHB_18_20
How to cite this article:
Lin MW, Cheng Y. Policy actions to alleviate psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences from Taiwan. Soc Health Behav 2020;3:72-3 |
How to cite this URL:
Lin MW, Cheng Y. Policy actions to alleviate psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences from Taiwan. Soc Health Behav [serial online] 2020 [cited 2023 Jun 9];3:72-3. Available from: https://www.shbonweb.com/text.asp?2020/3/2/72/286260 |
Dear Editor,
As the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the psychosocial consequences that directly caused the epidemic per se and that indirectly caused by the implementation of disease control measures should not be overlooked. The World Health Organization has recognized mental health risk during the time of disease outbreak.[1] The fear of COVID-19 is also important and is getting growing attention in the literature.[2],[3] In this essay, we outline major mechanisms linking the epidemics to psychosocial consequences and present Taiwan's experiences in alleviating their impacts, which, in our view, have contributed to the success in epidemic control.
Previous studies have shown that during the time of disease outbreaks, specific groups are prone to mental health diseases, including those being infected and under quarantine,[4] healthcare workers,[5] and those who have preexisting psychological illness.[6] The overall mental health risk is also expected to increase on a population level. The disease could trigger fear and anxiety leading to emotional distress and compulsory behaviors, such as washing hands intensively and hoarding of facial masks, disinfectants, and other materials. On the other hand, the implementation of certain infection control strategies, such as identification of high-risk groups and quarantine, can lead to stigma and discrimination.
The Government of Taiwan has been effective in reducing public fear toward the disease through transparency and open communication. Soon after the establishment of the Central Epidemics Command Center (CECC) on January 20, 2020, Press Conference chaired by the Minister of Health and Welfare has been held and broadcast live on a daily basis. The CECC set up social media channels to inform the public about the development of COVID-19 epidemic and the disease control measures being undertaken. The CECC also mobilized resources to ensure and ration the supplies of personal protective equipment, and their availability at each purchasing location could be checked online. Through these actions, people receive not just correct and timely information but also supportive and encouraging messages, substantially lowering public fear and anxiety. Because of the early action to control COVID-19 infection, Taiwan is able to control the confirmed cases in a low number.[7]
With the consideration that people under quarantine might experience social isolation, self-blame, or even discrimination, local governments in coordination with the CECC have formed community-level networks to provide food and other necessities as well as emotional support. To encourage citizen's cooperation, the CECC actively honored the contribution of people who are put under quarantine, rather than seeing them as a threat to public health. Such an approach helps transform a sense of being punished to a sense of active citizen behavior deemed to be honored.
Experiences of Taiwan suggested that it is important to consider psychosocial aspects in disease control policy. For example, providing appropriate information and knowledge in a timely way can efficiently lower the fear, stigma, and discrimination of disease.[8] A comprehensive understanding of psychosocial effects and the benefits of incorporating public mental health perspectives into disease control strategies can never be overlooked. Given that disease control measures require citizens' cooperation, it is important to take into consideration the psychosocial impacts of the disease as well as disease control, both for the effectiveness of disease control measures and for the improvement of public mental health.
Financial support
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
| References | |  |
| 1. | World Health Organization. Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations during the COVID-19 Outbreak, 18 March 2020. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020.  |
| 2. | Ahorsu DK, Lin CY, Imani V, Saffari M, Griffiths MD, Pakpour AH. The Fear of COVID-19 Scale: Development and Initial Validation [published online ahead of print, 2020 Mar 27]. Int J Ment Health Addict 2020;1-9. |
| 3. | Sakib N, Bhuiyan AKMI, Hossain S, Al Mamun F, Hosen I, Abdullah AH, et al. Psychometric validation of the Bangla fear of COVID-19 Scale: Confirmatory factor analysis and Rasch analysis. [Published online ahead of print, 2020 May 11]. Int J Ment Health Addict 2020;1-12. |
| 4. | Sim M. Psychological trauma of Middle East respiratory syndrome victims and bereaved families. Epidemiol Health 2016;38:e2016054. |
| 5. | Wu P, Fang Y, Guan Z, Fan B, Kong J, Yao Z, et al. The psychological impact of the SARS epidemic on hospital employees in China: Exposure, risk perception, and altruistic acceptance of risk. Can J Psychiatry 2009;54:302-11. |
| 6. | Cheung YT, Chau PH, Yip PS. A revisit on older adults suicides and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic in Hong Kong. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 2008;23:1231-8. |
| 7. | Wang CJ, Ng CY, Brook RH. Response to COVID-19 in Taiwan: Big data analytics, new technology, and proactive testing. JAMA 2020;323:1341-2. |
| 8. | Lin CY. Social reaction toward the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Soc Health Behav 2020;3:1-2. [Full text] |
| This article has been cited by | | 1 |
Psychometric Performance of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and Its Validation in Czechia |
|
| Jiri Remr | | Sustainability. 2023; 15(11): 8990 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 2 |
Impact of Daycare Service Interruption during COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical and Mental Functions and Nutrition in Older People with Dementia |
|
| Ya-Shin Wang, Cheng-Fu Lin, Fu-Hsuan Kuo, Ying-Chyi Chou, Shih-Yi Lin | | Healthcare. 2022; 10(9): 1744 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 3 |
The Mediating Roles of Anxiety, Depression, Sleepiness, Insomnia, and Sleep Quality in the Association between Problematic Social Media Use and Quality of Life among Patients with Cancer |
|
| Vida Imani, Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu, Nasrin Taghizadeh, Zahra Parsapour, Babak Nejati, Hsin-Pao Chen, Amir H. Pakpour | | Healthcare. 2022; 10(9): 1745 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 4 |
Students’ Perceptions of the Sustainability of Distance Learning Systems in the Post-COVID-19: A Qualitative Perspective |
|
| Dmaithan Almajali, Manaf Al-Okaily, Samer Barakat, Hanadi Al-Zegaier, Zulkhairi Md. Dahalin | | Sustainability. 2022; 14(12): 7353 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 5 |
Rise in Use of Digital Mental Health Tools and Technologies in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Survey Study |
|
| Dara H Sorkin,Emily A Janio,Elizabeth V Eikey,Margaret Schneider,Katelyn Davis,Stephen M Schueller,Nicole A Stadnick,Kai Zheng,Martha Neary,David Safani,Dana B Mukamel | | Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2021; 23(4): e26994 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 6 |
The Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms, Sleep Problems, and Psychological Distress Among COVID-19 Frontline Healthcare Workers in Taiwan |
|
| Mei-Yun Lu,Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu,Shikha Kukreti,Carol Strong,Yi-Hsuan Lin,Yi-Jie Kuo,Yu-Pin Chen,Chung-Ying Lin,Po-Lin Chen,Nai-Ying Ko,Wen-Chien Ko | | Frontiers in Psychiatry. 2021; 12 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 7 |
Willingness of Taiwan’s Healthcare Workers and Outpatients to Vaccinate against COVID-19 during a Period without Community Outbreaks |
|
| Shikha Kukreti,Mei-Yun Lu,Yi-Hsuan Lin,Carol Strong,Chung-Ying Lin,Nai-Ying Ko,Po-Lin Chen,Wen-Chien Ko | | Vaccines. 2021; 9(3): 246 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 8 |
Expanding Protection Motivation Theory to Explain Willingness of COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake among Taiwanese University Students |
|
| Po-Ching Huang,Ching-Hsia Hung,Yi-Jie Kuo,Yu-Pin Chen,Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu,Cheng-Fang Yen,Chung-Ying Lin,Mark D. Griffiths,Amir H. Pakpour | | Vaccines. 2021; 9(9): 1046 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 9 |
Changing Journal Title from Social Health and Behavior to Asian Journal of Social Health and Behavior |
|
| Chung-Ying Lin,AmirH Pakpour | | Asian Journal of Social Health and Behavior. 2021; 4(1): 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 10 |
Sleep duration among preschoolers in Taiwan: A longitudinal study |
|
| Yi-Ching Lin, Meng-Che Tsai, Chung-Ying Lin, Amir H. Pakpour | | Sleep Epidemiology. 2021; : 100015 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 11 |
The effects of home confinement on physical activity level and mental status in professional football players during COVID-19 outbreak |
|
| Gürhan Dönmez,Ömer Özkan,Yigitcan Menderes,Serife Seyma Torgutalp,Levend Karaçoban,Nevzad Denerel,Savas Kudas | | The Physician and Sportsmedicine. 2021; : 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 12 |
Psychosocial impacts of COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study of Mirpur, Pakistan |
|
| Farooq Abdullah, Muhammad Shoaib | | International Review of Sociology. 2021; : 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 13 |
Mediating role of positivity in the relationship between state anxiety and problematic social media use during the COVID-19 pandemic |
|
| Ibrahim Arpaci,Kasim Karatas,Fettah Kiran,Ismail Kusci,Ahmet Topcu | | Death Studies. 2021; : 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 14 |
Psychological distress experienced by self-quarantined undergraduate university students in Lebanon during the COVID-19 outbreak |
|
| Ghida Kassir,Samer El Hayek,Hussein Zalzale,Laura Orsolini,Maya Bizri | | International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. 2021; : 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 15 |
An Integrated Approach to COVID-19 Preventive Behaviour Intentions: Protection Motivation Theory, Information Acquisition, and Trust |
|
| Ünzile Özge Kicali, Didem Acar | | Social Work in Public Health. 2021; : 1 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 16 |
Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) across countries: Measurement invariance issues |
|
| Chung-Ying Lin,Wen-Li Hou,Mohammed A. Mamun,José Aparecido da Silva,Yunier Broche-Pérez,Irfan Ullah,Akihiro Masuyama,Koubun Wakashima,Mélody Mailliez,Arnaud Carre,Yu-Pin Chen,Kun-Chia Chang,Yi-Jie Kuo,Paolo Soraci,Damian Scarf,Anders Broström,Mark D. Griffiths,Amir H. Pakpour | | Nursing Open. 2021; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 17 |
Factors associated with anxiety and quality of life of the Wuhan populace during the COVID-19 pandemic |
|
| Cheng Liu,Ya-Chen Lee,Ying-Lien Lin,Shang-Yu Yang | | Stress and Health. 2021; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 18 |
Relationship between social support, coping strategy against COVID-19, and anxiety among home-quarantined Chinese university students: A path analysis modeling approach |
|
| Yue Li, Jun Peng, Yanqiang Tao | | Current Psychology. 2021; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 19 |
Adherence to COVID-19 policy measures: Behavioral insights from The Netherlands and Belgium |
|
| Eline van den Broek-Altenburg,Adam Atherly,Amir H. Pakpour | | PLOS ONE. 2021; 16(5): e0250302 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 20 |
Problematic internet-related behaviors mediate the associations between levels of internet engagement and distress among schoolchildren during COVID-19 lockdown: A longitudinal structural equation modeling study |
|
| I-Hua Chen, Chao-Ying Chen, Amir H. Pakpour, Mark D. Griffiths, Chung-Ying Lin, Xu-Dong Li, Hector W. H. Tsang | | Journal of Behavioral Addictions. 2021; 10(1): 135 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 21 |
Internet addiction and psychological distress among Chinese schoolchildren before and during the COVID-19 outbreak: A latent class analysis |
|
| I-Hua Chen, Chao-Ying Chen, Chieh-hsiu Liu, Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu, Mark D. Griffiths, Yu-Pin Chen, Yi-Jie Kuo, Chung-Ying Lin, Amir H. Pakpour, Shu-Mei Wang | | Journal of Behavioral Addictions. 2021; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 22 |
COVID-19-Related Variables and Its Association with Anxiety and Suicidal Ideation: Differences Between International and Local University Students in Taiwan |
|
| Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu, Iqbal Pramukti, Carol Strong, Hsiao-Wen Wang, Mark D Griffiths, Chung-Ying Lin, Nai-Ying Ko | | Psychology Research and Behavior Management. 2021; Volume 14: 1857 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 23 |
Threat, Coping, and Social Distance Adherence During COVID-19: Cross-Continental Comparison Using an Online Cross-Sectional Survey |
|
| Abrar Al-Hasan,Jiban Khuntia,Dobin Yim | | Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020; 22(11): e23019 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 24 |
Anxiety and suicidal thoughts during COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-country comparison among Indonesian, Taiwanese, and Thai university students (Preprint) |
|
| Iqbal Pramukti,Carol Strong,Yajai Sitthimongkol,Agus Setiawan,Moses Glorino Rumambo Pandin,Cheng-Fang Yen,Chung-Ying Lin,Nai-Ying Ko,Mark D. Griffiths | | Journal of Medical Internet Research. 2020; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 25 |
Investigating mediated effects of fear of COVID-19 and COVID-19 misunderstanding in the association between problematic social media use, psychological distress, and insomnia |
|
| Chung-Ying Lin,Anders Broström,Mark D. Griffiths,Amir H. Pakpour | | Internet Interventions. 2020; 21: 100345 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 26 |
Validation and Psychometric Properties of the Japanese Version of the Fear of COVID-19 Scale Among Adolescents |
|
| Akihiro Masuyama,Hiroki Shinkawa,Takahiro Kubo | | International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction. 2020; | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 27 |
The Association Between Health Status and Insomnia, Mental Health, and Preventive Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Fear of COVID-19 |
|
| Daniel Kwasi Ahorsu, Chung-Ying Lin, Amir H. Pakpour | | Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. 2020; 6: 2333721420 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 28 |
Covid-19—Beyond virology: Potentials for maintaining mental health during lockdown |
|
| Aisha J. L. Munk,Norina M. Schmidt,Nina Alexander,Katrina Henkel,Juergen Hennig,Amir H. Pakpour | | PLOS ONE. 2020; 15(8): e0236688 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 29 |
Anxiety and depressive symptoms among COVID-19 patients in Jianghan Fangcang Shelter Hospital in Wuhan, China |
|
| Ling-Ling Dai,Xi Wang,Tian-Ci Jiang,Peng-Fei Li,Yu Wang,Shu-Jun Wu,Liu-Qun Jia,Meng Liu,Lin An,Zhe Cheng,Amir H. Pakpour | | PLOS ONE. 2020; 15(8): e0238416 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 30 |
Mental health problems and impact on youth minds during the COVID-19 outbreak: Cross-sectional (RED-COVID) survey |
|
| Deepak Nathiya,Pratima Singh,Supriya Suman,Preeti Raj,BalvirSingh Tomar | | Social Health and Behavior. 2020; 3(3): 83 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | | | 31 |
“Infodemic” in a pandemic: COVID-19 conspiracy theories in an african country |
|
| OlusojiS Olatunji,Olusola Ayandele,Doyin Ashirudeen,OluwatosinS Olaniru | | Social Health and Behavior. 2020; 3(4): 152 | | [Pubmed] | [DOI] | |
|
 |
|
|
|
Search Pubmed for