The Psychological Experience of Covid-19 tested Positive People in Eka Kotebe Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Coping and Resilience: A qualitative study.
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Date
2020-10
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Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Introduction:
It has been seven and half months since the first Novel Corona Virus case was reported in Ethiopia. The
number of infected people has been rapidly expanding globally and nationally. In Ethiopia, as of October
26, 2020, it has reached to 93,343 infected and 1,426 deaths. There are few studies that have explored the
lived experiences of previous epidemic outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases including Ebola, Severe
acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Influenza A (H1N1) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
Except one Study from China, there is a dearth of research on the psychological experience of COVID-19
hospitalized patients and there is no such study conducted in Ethiopia.
Objective
To explore and describe the psychological experience and the coping and resilience of COVID-19
hospitalized patients in Eka Kotebe hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Method
A phenomenological qualitative study design was used. Participants were recruited using non-
probabilistic heterogeneous purposive sampling technique from the hospital referred above. Participants
were those who are confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection, consented to take part, speak Amharic
language fluently and on stable medical condition. Sampling proceeded until theoretical saturation was
achieved. Eleven in-depth telephone interviews were conducted and seven were included in the results.
The in-depth interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and translated into English. Thematic analysis
was used to identify key themes.
Results
There major themes were identified describing the initial emotional reaction, daily life in hospital and
stressors as well as resilience and ways of coping. Initial response towards the disease included fright,
denial and anger during the early stages, which dissolved into acceptance in the later stages and mix of
positive and negative emotions towards the end of hospitalization. The primary sources of stress were the
inadequacy of information about the disease, health and economical stability of family, concern about
long term sequela of the disease and stigma. Despite these, all the study subjects displayed strong
resilience and coping mechanisms whereby they engaged themselves in some form of coping mechanisms
which included taking advantage of the social support by engaging themselves in group and pair
conversations and practicing spiritual rituals together. Different contributing factors were considered for
their resilience which encompasses the role of having a cognitive capability to understanding the disease,
lessons learned from wisdom of their role models in life or adverse experiences during early life and most
importantly having a faith.
Finally, most participants expressed the moral lessons gained from their experience with COVID- 19 and
reflected on their positive outlooks.
Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic has caused emotional distress among the patients. The findings in
this study also have some unique elements of the perceived stressors and coping strategies. The main
features centered upon the stigma and discrimination, safety of family, economic stability, role of culture,
religious believe and ritual practices. These results promote understanding of the language and behavior
of patients, enhance communication, inspire to denote interventions targets and pave the way for future
researches studying the long-term psychological experience from COVID-19.
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Keywords
Coronavirus disease 2019 , Copping , Resilience ,Pandemic Emergencies, Patients ,Psychological experience ,Qualitative study