Support for families of isolated or deceased COVID-19 patients in sub-Saharan Africa

Francky Teddy Endomba; Guy Sadeu Wafeu; Arnauld Efon-Ekangouo; Linda Djune-Yemeli; Cyrille Donfo-Azafack; Hugues C Nana-Djeunga; Joseph Kamgno

doi:10.1177/2055102920975293

Support for families of isolated or deceased COVID-19 patients in sub-Saharan Africa

Health Psychol Open. 2020 Nov 24;7(2):2055102920975293. doi: 10.1177/2055102920975293. eCollection 2020 Jul-Dec.

Authors

Francky Teddy Endomba^{1

2}, Guy Sadeu Wafeu³, Arnauld Efon-Ekangouo³, Linda Djune-Yemeli³, Cyrille Donfo-Azafack³, Hugues C Nana-Djeunga³, Joseph Kamgno^{3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Health Economics & Policy Research and Evaluation for Development Results Group (HEREG), Cameroon.
² Psychiatry Internship Program, University of Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
³ Centre for Research on Filariasis and other Tropical Diseases (CRFilMT), Cameroon.
⁴ Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon.

Abstract

Aside the direct effect of the COVID-19 on infected patients, this infectious disease outbreak has various psychological consequences. These mental health repercussions pertain to the general population of uninfected individuals, and particularly families of isolated or deceased COVID-19 patients. This aspect is of substantial interest amid sub-Saharan African communities, considering the key place and cultural significance of mourning and funerals in these settings. In this commentary, we discuss on the issue of psychological and social support of COVID-19 patients' families, by taking into account some sub-Saharan African cultural considerations.

Keywords: COVID-19; family; psychosocial support; sub-Saharan Africa.