ABSTRACT
The coronavirus pandemic of 2019 (COVID-19) has created unprecedented changes to everyday life for millions of Americans due to job loss, school closures, stay-at-home orders and health and mortality consequences. In turn, physicians, academics, and policymakers have turned their attention to the public mental health toll of COVID-19. This commentary reporting from the field integrates perceptions of academic, community, health system, and policy leaders from state, county, and local levels in commenting on community mental health needs in the COVID-19 pandemic. Stakeholders noted the broad public health scope of mental health challenges while expressing concern about exacerbation of existing disparities in access and adverse social determinants, including for communities with high COVID-19 infection rates, such as African Americans and Latinos. They noted rapid changes toward telehealth and remote care, and the importance of understanding impacts of changes, including who may benefit or have limited access, with implications for future services delivery. Needs for expanded workforce and training in mental health were noted, as well as potential public health value of expanding digital resources tailored to local populations for enhancing resilience to stressors. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to changes in delivery of health care services across populations and systems. Concerns over the mental health impact of COVID-19 has enhanced interest in remote mental care delivery and preventive services, while being mindful of potential for enhanced disparities and needs to address social determinants of health. Ongoing quality improvement across systems can integrate lessons learned to enhance a public mental well-being.
Subject(s)
Coronavirus Infections , Delivery of Health Care , Health Services Needs and Demand/organization & administration , Mental Health/trends , Pandemics , Pneumonia, Viral , Public Health , Betacoronavirus , COVID-19 , Coronavirus Infections/epidemiology , Coronavirus Infections/prevention & control , Coronavirus Infections/psychology , Delivery of Health Care/organization & administration , Delivery of Health Care/trends , Humans , Organizational Innovation , Pandemics/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/epidemiology , Pneumonia, Viral/prevention & control , Pneumonia, Viral/psychology , Public Health/methods , Public Health/trends , Quality Improvement , SARS-CoV-2 , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
There is growing concern about the mental health and social impact of COVID-19 on underresourced children, youth, and families given widespread social disruption, school closures, economic impact, and loss of lives. In this commentary we describe how an existing public-public partnership between a large county mental health department and a state university responded to COVID-19. This partnership, originally designed to address workforce needs, rapidly pivoted to support providers through a trauma- and resilience-informed approach to mitigating adverse mental health effects among youth and families in Los Angeles County. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).