Research on COVID-19 – How it is affecting our mental health

COVID-19 has led to an elevated awareness of threat in the environment and to people’s livelihoods. Through social distancing, school closures, work layoffs, and a partial and mandatory lockdown to some – people from all walks of life are suddenly facing major disruptions to their lives, leaving a large chunk of individuals feeling anxious or worried about the outbreak and the trail of negative consequences that come with it.

Apart from concerns about physical health, this pandemic has given rise to various mental health issues within our community.  The mental health impact of the pandemic will last longer than the physical health impact. We therefore need to understand it and monitor it closely to respond appropriately, and in an efficient and effective manner.

Monitoring the psychological wellbeing of the nation through research

In the light of this, Richmond Foundation took the decision to survey the nation’s mental health under the unprecedented restrictions on social interaction. Our aim is to monitor the psychological wellbeing of the nation as the Coronavirus pandemic, and its aftermath, impact Malta and Gozo.  In order to do this, Richmond Foundation has contracted the services of Esprimi, a research company to carry out a series of public sentiment surveys and assess the toll that the novel Coronavirus is taking on the national population’s mental well-being. The survey will be repeated regularly until the start of 2021.

Richmond Foundation has been provided EU funds to carry out the research. This is being done through the European Social Fund as part of the project ESF 02.049.  All the survey results will be published on the Richmond Foundation website.