Implementation and evaluation of a telephone hotline for professional mental health first aid during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany

The COVID-19 pandemic represents a significant psychological burden for many people; however, especially during the first wave of the pandemic in Germany, little acute professional help was available for people in need. In southern Germany, a telephone hotline for psychological first aid for COVID-19-related burdens was set up under the lead of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Ministry of Social Affairs and Integration, opened to the entire population and evaluated in April 2020. In the period from 22 April to 24 July 2020, 753 volunteer psychotherapeutically trained counselors from different professional groups answered a total of 8096 calls. Depression symptoms (36%), anxiety symptoms (18%) and psychotic symptoms (19%) were most frequently reported. Every second call was related to a previous mental illness. During the counseling sessions, which lasted 25 min on average, a variety of psychological acute interventions were conducted. In the presence of unclear symptoms, psychotic symptoms or severe personality disorder symptoms, the counselors were able to help significantly less compared to the remaining calls in which other clearly defined symptoms were present. The results point to both the benefits and limitations of hotline services. The major benefits relate to the fast availability and effective professional help for people with clearly characterized symptoms. In the case of unclear or complex symptoms, immediate help by telephone seems to be possible only to a limited extent, but it could initiate access to further help offers. Overall, the results of this study provide a first indication that hotline services for psychological first aid are feasible under pandemic conditions.