Exploring strengths, challenges, and experiences of using a national call center during the Covid-19 pandemic: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Investigating experiences of staff and callers of call centers/hotlines during the Covid-19 pandemic is essential to identify perceived strengths, challenges, and opportunities for improving service delivery. This study aimed to explore experiences and perspectives of staff and callers of the 4030 call center during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: This was a qualitative study in which data were collected via conducting semi-structured interviews with the call center's staff (n = 5), consultants (n = 24), and callers (n = 35). The data were analyzed using the framework analysis approach. RESULT: The results included four main themes emerged from interviewing the staff and consultants of the call center: the rationale behind establishing the 4030 call center, its operational processes, strengths, and challenges. Interviews with the callers included three key main themes: reasons for contacting the call center, its strengths, and challenges. CONCLUSION: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the 4030 call Center played an important role in reducing the burden of in-person visits to healthcare centers as well as providing psychological support to the public. Despite advantages such as preventing disease spread and alleviating public concerns, challenges including the large number of calls, long waiting times, and limitations of telephone counseling were reported. Therefore, healthcare policymakers need to pay more attention to the strengths and challenges of the call centers during health crises to improve service delivery and use past experiences for future planning.