Examining and Supporting Frontline Mental Healthcare Professionals (FMHP) during the COVID- 19 Pandemic and its Aftermath
Novel coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) stealthily began its march across the globe at the tail end of 2019 in Wuhan, China and within months had reached all corners of the planet in devastating fashion. (Rajkumar, 2020; Galea, Merchant & Lurie, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted people of all nations, races, socioeconomic groups and genders. The ferocity of the virus led governments to take the unprecedented steps of closing schools, courts of law, businesses and entire communities. Shelter-in-place orders and physical distancing mandates have been implemented worldwide (Shanafelt, Ripp & Trockle, 2020; Galea, Merchant & Lurie, 2020). While COVID-19 is a virus which leads to respiratory illness, medical distress and sometimes death, the physical health manifestations of the virus are just the tip of the iceberg of this pandemic. The seeds of a major global mental health crisis are germinating (Hotpof, Bullmore, O’Connor & Holmes, 2020). COVID-19 appears to be easily transmitted via close person-to-person contact, impacts large swaths of the world’s population, and there is no known cure or vaccine.
