Counseling Services in Health Care for Covid-19 Patients

Abstract

COVID-19 patients face physical and psychological problems. Physical complaints are usually fever, cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath, while psychological problems are anxiety, fear, and stress during isolation. Referring to the problem, the health care for patients with COVID-19 should not only for handling physical problems but also psycho-social-religious problems. One way to deal with the psychological problem is to provide counseling services conducted in referral hospitals for COVID-19 patients in Adiyathma general hospital and Wongosonegoro general hospital of Semarang. The health care of COVID-19 patients in the hospital pays attention to the psychological problems through counseling services conducted by psychologists. This study was a qualitative study with a phenomenological approach to explore counseling services in health care for COVID-19 patients. The subjects of this study were COVID-19 patients who were Muslim and underwent isolation in hospitals. The results showed that counseling services provide based on doctors' recommendations or the patient's request due to psychological problems such as anxiety, fear, and adaptation disorders. Counseling practices were conducted using common methods such as relaxation, psychoeducation, client center, and CBT (cognitive behavior therapy), combined with religious methods (Islam) by inviting patients to get closer to Allah through prayer and dhikr.

Keywords

• counseling services, religiuos counseling, health care, covid-19 patients