Short Report – Special Collection: African Health Systems

The contribution of family physicians to residential mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Tshwane District, South Africa

Annelet Kruger, Owen O. Eales, Sanet Jansen van Vuuren
African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine | Vol 13, No 1 | a3045 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/phcfm.v13i1.3045 | © 2021 Annelet Kruger, Owen O. Eales, Sanet Jansen van Vuuren | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 30 May 2021 | Published: 23 July 2021

About the author(s)

Annelet Kruger, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Owen O. Eales, Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Sanet Jansen van Vuuren, Kungwini Welfare Organisation, Zwavelpoort, Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

During the start of the first wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, two family physicians in Tshwane, South Africa, reviewed the people at high-risk within their Health Catchment Area. The largest residential mental health care facility in Gauteng fell under their care, and they were responsible for providing care and support to this facility. Family physicians have to lead the primary care team and simultaneously take care of the well-being of their team members. This report discusses how these family physicians used digital platforms and virtual care to successfully coordinate and manage the response to an outbreak of COVID-19 at this mental healthcare facility.



Keywords

family medicine; coordination of care; virtual; health catchment area; WhatsApp; Zoom

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Crossref Citations

1. A Family Medicine response to the COVID-19 lockdown: University of Pretoria perspective
Edith N. Madela-Mntla, Sanele Ngcobo
South African Health Review  vol: 25  year: 2023  
doi: 10.61473/001c.77880