Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 25;15:1302442. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1302442. eCollection 2024.
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Clinical psychologists in Austria shouldered a large part of the massive increase in demand for mental health services caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to find out how the pandemic affected their work and to gather information on how best to support the profession in the event of a crisis.
METHODS: N = 172 Austrian clinical psychologists participated in a cross-sectional online survey between 11 April 2022 and 31 May 2022, including both closed and open-ended questions about their work. Open-ended questions were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A mixed-methods analysis was conducted to test correlations between the categories derived from the qualitative analysis and professional variables.
RESULTS: The analyses revealed that clinical psychologists, especially those with more years of experience, perceived an increased need for clinical psychological treatment, especially for children and adolescents, a lack of coverage for clinical psychological treatment by health insurance, a change to remote treatment formats, and a number of burdens associated with complying with COVID-19 measures.
DISCUSSION: Clinical psychologists reported an urgent need to increase resources in both outpatient and inpatient settings and to promote health insurance coverage. To support the clinical psychology profession in providing high-quality work in times of crisis, there is a need to facilitate more opportunities for team and peer exchange, as well as financial support in the event of loss of income.
PMID:38725952 | PMC:PMC11081068 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1302442
