Frontline Support: Responding to the COVID-19 mental health crisis in South Africa through online arts and music therapy

Abstract

COVID-19 rendered South Africa reeling from the ramifications of the pandemic. Lockdown restricted movement, placed significant strain on healthcare workers, and profoundly impacted the socio-economic state of the country. Increased unemployment, reports of gender-based violence and suicide threats were among some indications of a resultant mental health crisis. In response, Frontline Support (FS), a collaborative volunteer-based arts therapy initiative was established. This report presents the documented process of establishing and implementing FS. The concept and structure of the organisation as well as the triage and treatment intervention are described. Descriptive statistics drawn from triage data, a client evaluation, and a therapist survey, as well as the themes emerging from the thematic analysis thereof are presented. The inclusion of two vignettes, drawn from documented clinical case studies, illustrate the online therapeutic offering of FS. A summary of quantitative data includes: the triage allocation, number of clients accessing FS, breakdown of sessions and geographical reach for the period March 2020 to July 2021. The thematic analysis of the client evaluation yielded five themes: i) Perceived personal gains through online therapy, ii) Enhanced personal insight, iii) Clients’ experience of the therapist, iv) Difficulties experienced by clients, and v) Reflections and recommendations. The therapist survey yielded the following six themes: i) Access and awareness, ii) Client access to and engagement with therapeutic arts resources, iii) Possibilities and restrictions of the Online Platform (OLP), iv) Arts therapies techniques adapted for the OLP, v) Therapists’ challenges, and vi) Establishing and maintaining the therapeutic relationship. The discussion reflects on the benefits, challenges and learnings of FS, and concludes with recommendations for its ongoing development, sustainability and accessibility within South Africa.