Introduction: The SARS COV 2 virus caused a pandemic during the years 2020 to 2023, due to the uncertainty of the behavior of the virus, several biosafety protocols were carried out, one of them was the isolation of patients, which prevented them from their relatives maintain contact with them, causing many to go through the disease process alone and in the worst case, die away from their family. For this reason, a means of communication was established between patients isolated by SARS COV2 with their families to mitigate their disease process.

Objective: To assess the emotional state of patients isolated by COVID 19 who contacted their loved ones via video call at the Calderón General Teaching Hospital during the period February to August 2021.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study, with a non-experimental design. The survey technique was used; and as an instrument a hetero-applied questionnaire, which was validated after the execution of the pilot plan. The questionnaire was made up of 5 questions, with Likert options. All of these related to the patient's emotional evaluation of their SARS COV 2 disease process.

Results: From a universe of 329 patients, with a sample of 151, 96% of patients stated that the video call communication tool generates a perception of well-being in the emotional state by maintaining contact with their loved ones. On the other hand, 96.2% established that the tool motivated their desire for recovery in the disease process. And finally, 100% of the patients confirmed that their perception of life expectancy increased during their hospital isolation.

Discussion: With the results of our research we can affirm that the communication strategies applied, such as video calls, improved the emotional state of the patients as well as the reasons for continuing with the treatment during the course of the disease, on the other hand and According to the background described, these strategies also made it possible to reduce the feeling of isolation and support the accompaniment of patients by mental health personnel directly and their families indirectly. Studies carried out in Spain 2021 and meta- analysis found, maintain the same perception of improvement not only in the mental but also physical sphere. No research has been carried out to validate the effectiveness of video calls in confinement due to COVID 19, but the subjective perspective of improvement detailed in the reference articles is similar. Therefore, our research manages to maintain relevance by disclosing statistical data on the objectivity of the perspective of COVID 19 patients regarding their confinement and their virtual contact with their families.

Coronaviruses are a group of pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to humans, it is a disease zoonotic, So, in December of the 2019 in the province of Hubei, city of Wuhan, China. HE reports the outbreak of the SARS COV 2 coronavirus, which the WHO later declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, currently causing 696,150 deaths worldwide. Even at the Latin American level, America HE reports around of 23 cases by each 100,000 population [1], In Ecuador in a report September of 2022, HE reported near of 999,000 cases of COVID 19 and with a figure of mortality of 200 per 100,000 inhabitants. [2] The infectious outbreak called SARS, CoV-2, characterized by pneumonia and respiratory failure that spread rapidly, forcing countries around the world to declare a state of health emergency and with it isolation both at the social and hospital level, [3] changes in lifestyle, the risk of contagion, ignorance of the disease at the beginning of the pandemic, frequent news about deaths, generated a great stressful event that brought with it repercussions, not only at the level of individual health of people but also at an emotional and social level, this is the case in a study of around 23,000 people. In the study: “Impact of the pandemic by COVID 19” The spot of view of association of the patients, they indicated that around the 66% of patient had effects physical and near of the 73% impact to level emotional and social, in special: insomnia, depression, anxiety, between others [4]. TO weigh of that the affectation psychological is global exist groups vulnerable with elderly impact, as: The people older adults, with comorbidities medical included inside of They include a history of previous mental disorders, patients with learning difficulties, health workers and people at socioeconomic risk [5]. In the case of patients hospitalized with the disease of the COVID-19, these HE face to the separation physical and communication with their families, without fear of complications or the possibility of death; and by other part Their families also experience uncertainty about the outcome of their health status, as well as the risk of contagion, generating an emotional ambivalence between the need for care and approach to the patient and The distancing required or demanded by the hospital, which is expressed in the physical separation between the family member and the patient; which in turn provokes feelings of guilt and, in dramatic cases, the pain of not having been able to say goodbye to the patient when he or she dies. (1) Considering this, if we were to make a comparison with the Holocaust (concentration camps of the Second World War), Humanity re-experienced similar losses which we will describe below. 

         Elaborated by: Andrea Proaño Source: [6]

Table 1: Comparison of the losses in the Second war world and the pandemic by COVID -19.

In relation to the latter, anticipated grief and helplessness in the face of limited knowledge of the disease are created, both for the family member and the patient. Finally, the economic crisis and demographic distance are factors that also affect the emotional separation with patients and indirectly prevent effective communication within family units [7]. During the process of life, human beings experience various sufferings that alter their sense of life, and with this, the person develops emotional instability, which is represented by a number of psychopathological symptoms and signs such as anxiety, neurosis, depression, etc. Victor Frank, who was the mentor of logotherapy, proposes that the most appropriate way to overcome the sufferings of daily life is the application of various techniques, especially Paradoxical Intention, which invites us to: to the patient to face the event that causes suffering with the purpose of have a reason to continue living, finding a sense of learning in that suffering [3]. The patient, upon receiving the direction that any type of suffering can gain a meaning in life, understanding that this feeling cannot be eradicated, thus the emotional part becomes anchored to a protective factor, this being his spirituality, his family, a work goal, etc., which motivates him to find a meaning in life. [4] Another One of the ways for the patient to establish a reason for living is for the therapist and the patient to establish a human relationship, which motivates the creation of a therapeutic logo work (logo: sense of being). [4]

In this regard, according to the “Consensus of Recommendations for Palliative Care in the SARS-Cov-2/COVID-19 Pandemic”, the healthcare professional must be prepared for end-of-life situations and the social and family conflicts that this pandemic entails, and also “facilitate that family members can keep contact with he patient through media electronics by videoconference either by telephone, whenever the situation of the sick person allows it and whenever it is the wish of all the people involved, trying palliate he isolation" during the time that last the hospitalization, and even, during the last days and hours of their existence, so it is important that technological resources are available in institutions for the use of professionals and the benefit of patients. [5]

Design of study:

Study descriptive - cross, with design No experimental.

Design general: guy of study and techniques for this investigation HE used the quantitative method, with the end of get a more complete impression of the phenomenon studied. Afterwards of clarify approaches and theories generals and specific, HE established as The objective was to assess the emotional state of patients isolated due to COVID-19 who contacted their loved ones via video call at the Calderón General Teaching Hospital during the period from February to August 2021. For carry out the respective execution of the project is start with the collection of content theorist based in the experience of countries such as Chile, Spain, etc., regarding the care of COVID-19 patients and their emotional impact about the isolation forced with their relatives during the hospitalization, this I carry out between the dates 08/21/2020-08/25/2020. For understand this freak HE used the design explanatory, already that in a first phase HE will collect the data to through a survey applied to people in the universe (it will not be carried out sampling) met the criteria of inclusion, especially with the willfulness of be inside of the investigation, to through of the signing of informed consent. To subsequently analyze the research results.

Design sample: No, HE took sample, HE included to all the population that fulfilled with the criteria of inclusion and exclusion. Information gathering instruments and strategies: A bibliographic review was carried out across the entire research process, and a survey was administered to the entire population.

Technique: Survey

The Mental Health Specialty developed, validated and applied a survey called "Perception Questionnaire" of the state emotional", for determine Yeah the video call is a tool of support in the emotional state of patients with COVID-19 and isolation.

The survey was the following:

Survey of perception of the state emotional

1. You gender tranquillity contact with his familiar?

2. Contact with his familiar you helped to endure the symptoms of his disease?

3. As feels their wishes of recovery after of can contact with their relatives?

4. His state of cheer up, later to the contact with their relatives?

5. The hope of life, to the can contact with his family?

A pilot project was planned to validate the questionnaire in the same hospital isolation setting with patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. This project was carried out from September 7, 2020, to October 5, 2020. It was validated on 7 patients out of a total of 29. After the survey was administered in the pilot project, one question was modified due to difficulty understanding the wording. The sample was collected from February 1, 2021 to August 5, 2021. From a universe of 329 patients to the which HE facilitated attention in health mental (psychology and psychiatry), HE proceeds apply the Survey of 152 patients; 1 participant was excluded (because the data from that survey did not contain the information statistics necessary). HE conclude with a total of sample of 151 participants that they complied with the inclusion criteria.

Criteria of Inclusion and Exclusion:

Inclusion:

-Patients hospitalized in the area of isolation COVID -19.-Patients that No have of electronic means of communication.

-Patient that have their functions mental preserved.

Exclusion:

-  No authorization of the consent informed.

-  No maintained numbers of phone feasible and Internet in homes of the relatives.

-  Have phone conventional (domiciliary).

-  No they wished contact with his familiar

After application of the survey, was carried out the matrix of variables (annex 1) and immediately afterward the construction of the database and the variable dictionary in the SPSS program (Annex 2). Data analysis was then performed, creating tables and graphs for the analysis and presentation of results.

For carry out the respective execution of the project HE start with the collection of content theorist based in the experience of countries like Chile, Spain, etc. Forehead to the attention of COVID-19 patients and his emotional affectation about the isolation forced with their relatives during the hospitalization, this I carry out between the dates 08/21/2020-08/25/2020. A pilot project is planned to validate the questionnaire in the same hospital isolation setting with patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. This project was carried out from September 7, 2020, to October 5, 2020. It was validated on 7 patients out of a total of 29. After the survey was implemented in the pilot plan, one question was modified due to difficulty understanding the wording.

The sample is taken during the period 01/02/2021 to 05/08/2021. From a universe of 329 patients to which are facilitated care in health mental (psychology and psychiatry), it it is appropriate to apply the survey to 152 patients; HE excluded to one of the participants (the data of that survey No contained the necessary statistical information). They conclude with a total sample of 151 participants who met the inclusion criteria.

Results Statistics Descriptives

Table 2: Percentage of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental from the Calderón General Teaching Hospital by sex, 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Table 3: Distribution of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Teaching.

Calderón according to age, 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Fountain: Survey of perception of the emotional state Age range was 17 to 94 years.

Table 4: Frequency of user respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Calderón teacher according to marital status, 2020 – 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Table 5: Percentage of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Calderón Professor according to residency, 2020 - 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Table 6: Percentage of users surveyed by the Mental Health Service of the Calderón General Teaching Hospital, Yeah perceives that you gender tranquillity contact with his familiar to through of the video call, 2020 - 2021.

Table 7: Percentage of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Professor Calderón, Yeah perceives that contact with his familiar you helped to endure the symptoms of his disease via video call, 2020 - 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Table 8: Percentage of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Professor Calderón, according to as feels their wishes of recovery after of can contact with their relatives via video call, 2020 - 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Table 9: Percentage of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Professor Calderón, according to as perceives his state of cheer up, later to the contact with their relatives to through of the video call, 2020 - 2021.

Elaborated by: Service of Health Mental

Fountain: Survey of perception of the state emotional

Table 10: Percentage of users respondents by the Service of Health Mental of the Hospital General Professor Calderón, according to how he perceives life expectancy, being able to contact his family via video call, 2020 - 2021.

The Specialty of Health Mental performs a survey of manner digital with the Questionnaire of perception of the emotional state prepared by the service to determine if the video call is a support tool in the emotional state of patients with COVID-19 and isolation.

-HE evidence that for further of the 96% of the users the video call is a tool that generates a perception of well-being in emotional state when in contact with loved ones.

-HE determines that for 96.2 % of users the video call reason their wishes of recovery, but an important fact obtained is that 100% of patients saw an increase in their perception of life expectancy.

During the pandemic HE they put to provision of the people channels of communication virtual that HE they knew since long before, but they had not had a great impact on the daily activities of people worldwide. Today we have the technology necessary for communicate of manner direct and permanent to through tools digital as the video call, where are capable to see us, hear us and talk to us in real time. The applications to to leave of the pandemic by COVID19 of this tool digital in the health, They proved to be sufficiently effective in improving the emotional state of hospitalized patients, being able to improve anxiety symptoms, depression and other mental disorders associated with illness and isolation. The video call change the perception of the patient with I respect to his disease, his evolution and his recovery; something similar to what he does as a global response to isolation social. The results indicate the need to establish this instrument of communication as a alternative in the hospitals and No only for isolated patients, but also those who have relatives far away, are in higher care areas, have restricted viewing, and many other reasons. To achieve this, it is necessary to involve patient communication through telemedicine. of media free technological of universal access that be guaranteed by the system of health as part of the support and care network. This study based on the validation of a questionnaire applied in the form of a survey during the COVID19 pandemic in 2021 to patients who were in the respiratory isolation area, It shows that more than 96% of those who used the video call had a real perception of well-being in their emotional state accompanied by a desire for recovery, and 100% of them had an increase in their perceived life expectancy, making it an efficient tool for improvement and recovery. In the revision that HE made in Spain in the year 2021 about: "Impact of the pandemic by COVID-19: He point of view of the associations of patients", a 73.5% of the respondents that suffered the disease They reported that the pandemic affected them psychologically and socially, but a similar percentage of their relatives patients also reported equal impact; presented impact to level psychological, that This resulted in sleep or attention problems, mood swings, anxiety or depression. (3). What explains the need to work in health mental of all of them with the use of the tools that demonstrate effectiveness and favorable results.

If we consider the intervention model proposed by Oviedo and collaborators in 2021 and which was carried out in a population with similar demographic and sociocultural characteristics such as Colombia, we observed how the need for intervention was reflected through videoconferences to health personnel during COVID, since this facilitated the expression of feelings and met the needs of interpersonal ties and experiences of this population group. (7) The concept is extrapolated to the population that suffered from the disease and who also shared these spaces of isolation even with the additional emotional burden of being those who suffered from the disease and not just the risk of exposure that health professionals had. In the revision systematic where HE analyzes the loneliness caused by the lockdown in the adult elderly, establishes as there is an increase of the anxiety and depression elderly in this population and the benefits that achieves, HE contact with their families and friends during periods of isolation [8], a context in which we consider that the video call strategy becomes a valid support tool and applicable in health practice. 

Consider that the elderly population presented the highest risk factors for associated complications. to COVID, So as hospitalizations further prolonged. TO difference with the that HE has demonstrated in other systematic reviews [9], where very uncertain evidence is reported on the Effectiveness of video call interventions to reduce loneliness in older adults or improve their quality of life; the factor determinant is the presence of the disease so much for the benefit of the tool of video call, as well as the evolution of the patient's isolation in the context of his health.

After the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in this century, health is obliged to structure adequate prevention and effective containment measures. In these cases, it has been demonstrated that one of them must undoubtedly be the availability of technological means that allow patients to communicate in mandatory isolation environments, since this is a measure that has a real impact on addressing the difficulties that these events produce on general health and the mental sphere. For future research, it is recommended to determine the effectiveness of virtual tools such as video calls in all hospital settings, including isolation, review the factors that facilitate its implementation in both units of health public as private , the approach of the resilience and emotional regulation of the professionals of the health with I respect to the needs of the patients and of this manner assess the practical usefulness of the current technological applications of communication. In reviews as: “Video calls for reduce he isolation social and the loneliness in staff older people: a quick review” of Chris Noone and collaborators who in the year 2020 recommended conducting rigorous studies with diverse participants to demonstrate the effectiveness of video calls in addressing social isolation in older adults; and the study presented here has analyzed not only older adults. but in population general and in a hospital environment of isolation strict clearly demonstrating its benefit: giving elderly significance to the results obtained during his application, that even to unlike other pilot studies with preliminary results [10] that did not show improvement in terms of depression, anxiety and stress, this one did clearly demonstrate it with results that clearly speak to the efficiency of the video call tool in these clinical presentations of the social and mental sphere. HE has established that the communication of the patient with their relatives to through of video calls is a strategy that favors patients in isolation, especially but not exclusively in the hospital setting, with a methodologically rigorous application such as that applied in this research. [11,12]

The data that supported this present study are under the responsibility of the main author. (Survey and digital informed consent) which are stored at the facilities of the Calderón General Teaching Hospital.

The survey was conducted with the requirement of anonymity, although informed consent was obtained digitally, in order not to violate the biosecurity regulations established during the pandemic. 

The protocol and the consent document were approved by the Teaching Department of the Calderón General Teaching Hospital.

I appreciate of manner special to the patients by his collaboration with the information provided in moments so difficult worldwide with the COVID – 19 Pandemic being hospitalized far from their family and with the worries and symptoms of their illness. To the authorities of the institution for the respective permits and he unconditional support. To colleagues of the service for their joint work in the data collection and analysis.