Research on the characteristics of calls from psychological assistance hotline and the coping strategies of operators before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Changchun City

Abstract

Objective

To discuss the characteristics of psychological assistance hotline calls and operators' coping strategies of before and after the COVID-19 outbreak, in order to further improve the assistance ability of the psychological crisis hotline.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted on the demographics characteristics, call problems, coping strategies, and call time trends recorded by Changchun psychological assistance hotline information registration platform before the epidemic in Changchun City (January 20, 2019-April 20, 2019) and during the epidemic period (January 20, 2020-April 20, 2020).

Results

The differences between gender, age, marital status, location, and occupation type before and during the epidemic were statistically significant (χ²=11.205, 234.240, 152.083, 265.458, 353.385, P<0.01). The number of different help calls had a statistically significant difference before and during the epidemic (χ²=185.088, P<0.01). The difference in the number of operators' different coping strategies before and during the epidemic was statistically significant (χ²=226.810, P<0.01). Before the epidemic, the main peak of incoming calls was concentrated at 16∶00 to 17∶00, and the secondary peak was concentrated at 22∶00 to 23∶00. During the epidemic, the main peak of incoming calls was also concentrated at 16∶00 to 17∶00, while the secondary peak was concentrated at 10∶00 to 11∶00.

Conclusion

During the COVID-19 epidemic, the number of calls to the psychological assistance hotline was higher than that before the outbreak. The main peak time for calls was the same, and the secondary peak was adjusted from 22∶00 to 23∶00 to 10∶00 to 11∶00. During the epidemic, the number of calls from male, 30 to 39 years old, married, local and staff in Changchun was the most, psychological problems counseling and operator referral strategy were the most before and after the epidemic.