Day hospital during COVID-19 pandemic: adolescents experiences of telematic group interventions

Abstract

Objective: To explore the experience of adolescent users of the day hospital who were part of the telematic adaptation of the usual group interventions of the day hospital. Background: Day Hospitals are specialized outpatient facilities whose objective is to stabilize the user through intensive treatment while remaining in their family or community. In Chile, there are not enough day hospitals. One way of expanding the coverage is telematic care, which also is adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.  However, there are no studies on telematic day hospital services in Chile. Material and Methods: ten users participated in the study (out of 13 users of the intervention). We conducted semi-structured interviews and self-administered surveys between August 2020 and January 2021. Content Analysis was used to analyze the interviews, and the surveys were analyzed with descriptive statistics. Results: Positive social interactions were particularly valued by the participants (with both peers and therapists). There is a general perception of having improved socioemotional skills and mood. Telematic implementation was considered satisfactory by most participants, and they proposed incorporating more activities to promote deeper interactions with their peers. Conclusion: The core elements of this intervention would be the perception of social support (a possible therapeutic mechanism) and the feeling of having improved social skills and mood (possible primary outcome).