Cross-training Social Workers to Work in a Psychiatric Emergency Service during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has disrupted healthcare and placed additional strain on mental health systems around the world [1–3]. Hospital systems have had to act quickly to adapt to maintain services amid the difficulties of infection control and risks of exposure to frontline clinical staff. Emergency and intensive care services have been prioritized with resources and staff to treat patients with COVID- 19, whereas outpatient clinics and elective procedures have been reduced or cancelled [4, 5]. Patients with severe mental illness have been recognized to be at risk due to systematic changes wrought by the pandemic [6]. One strategy for maintaining services is cross-training staff from other specialties and services. In a recent survey of United States psychiatrists, 42% reported cross-coverage by staff from different services or specialties at their workplace [7]. Academic psychiatrists are positioned to facilitate service cross-training and thereby maintain high quality and accessible mental health services. In this educational case report, we describe the rapid development and evaluation of a crosstraining curriculum in our psychiatric emergency service (PES). Our experience provides lessons of success and challenges for future similar efforts.