Rita Remeikienė

Vilnius University, Law Faculty, Vilnius,

Lithuania

E-mail: rita.remeikiene@tf.vu.lt

ORCID 0000-0002-3369-485X

COVID-19 effects on frontline professionals: A psychological aspect

Albinas Bagdonas

Vilnius University, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius,

Lithuania 

E-mail: albinas.bagdonas@fsf.vu.lt 

ORCID 0000-0002-5712-9791

Abstract. The article aims to investigate the need for psychological help and its availability for professionals working in frontal areas during an emergency situation. A representative study (N=1139; educators, medical staff, social workers, psychologist, and other; 304 respondents from Vilnius district) concluded that the need for psychological services and the intensification of such provision in crisis situations is clear. As a result, the necessary decisions are formed at the state level, which improve the legal regulation of psychological services both at the level of individual agencies and at the interdepartmental level. The authors of the article recommend regulating at least the time norms and costs of psychological services provided in the public sector, as well as regulating the relevant parameters of health care, social or educational services and developing remote psychological services not only for sensitive groups (e.g. children or silver lines), professionals and the general population (especially in the context of social crises), to bring university studies of psychologists more in line with the requirements of the EuroPsy  diploma.

Received: December, 2020

1st Revision: May, 2021

Accepted: August, 2021

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2021/14-3/14

JEL Classification: A12, I12, I15

Keywords: psychological services, provision of psychological services, front-line professionals, COVID-19 pandemic, Vilnius district