key: cord-0801548-jnwbodwm authors: Wang, Jiali; Wei, Hualin; Zhou, Liang title: Hotline Services in China during COVID-19 Pandemic date: 2020-07-02 journal: J Affect Disord DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.06.030 sha: 1ea118e08ba0cc53f598edc6c5cb791d57b14ade doc_id: 801548 cord_uid: jnwbodwm • Many countries are taking quarantine measures because of the globally spread transmission of the COVID-19, which may pose adverse psychological effects to people; • Hotline Services is a great choice to provide psychological services for people in need since face-to-face social interaction are limited; • Hotline service should cover more than regular working hours; • To increase the answering seats of existing hotlines; • Training including both crisis intervention skills and COVID-19 pandemic related knowledge for volunteers before providing hotline services is recommended.  Many countries are taking quarantine measures because of the globally spread transmission of the COVID-19, which may pose adverse psychological effects to people  Hotline Services is a great choice to provide psychological services for people in need since face-to-face social interaction are limited  Hotline service should cover more than regular working hours  To increase the answering seats of existing hotlines  Training including both crisis intervention skills and COVID-19 pandemic related knowledge for volunteers before providing hotline services is recommended The spread transmission of the virus between people puts a significant obstacle in face-to-face contacts, including face-to-face social interaction and psychological services. Given the circumstances, various forms of online mental health services have boomed in China. Out of the 625 hotlines in China, 420 (67.2%) are providing 24-hour services, seven days a week. Our experiences in Guangzhou show that most calls are made between 7 am to 10 pm. Therefore, our practical suggestion to other countries who would like to expand their hotline services to deal with COVID-19 related emotional problems is that the service should cover more than regular working hours and working days. Most hotlines in China are established recently to meet the increasing psychological demands during the epidemic. As a result, majority of the new hotlines only received few calls, while many pre-existing hotlines were swamped with phone calls. To increase the answering seats of existing crisis hotlines through modern technology seems to be a better idea than simply opening more new hotlines. Raising public awareness by advertising hotline services is of crucial importance. A great many mental health workers have joined the hotline services as volunteers. However, crisis hotline is a highly specialized service that can be very different compared to traditional mental health services. The volunteered mental health workers need to be prepared not only for the crisis intervention skills, but also COVID-19 pandemic related knowledge because the anxiety of callers can be a normal emotional response to the actual threat. Sufficient training for volunteers before providing crisis hotline services is recommended. In general, crisis hotlines can effectively provide not only a platform for dealing with psychological stresses, but also instrumental and informational help. Even though the strategy to address psychological needs in such a pandemic is not a one-size-fits-all approach globally, China's experience in developing psychological hotlines can provide useful information for other countries to tailor their approaches in their social and cultural context. None. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, 2020b. Guidelines for psychological assistance hotlines during 2019-nCoV pneumonia epidemic National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China, 2020c. Psychological Assistance Hotline Enquiry Service Analysis of Calls to the "Xinxinyu" Psychic Hotline in Wuhan Online mental health services in China during the COVID-19 outbreak World Health Organization, 2020. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Situation Report -153 None.