COVID-19 Emergency Reforms in Massachusetts to Support Behavioral Health Care and Reduce Mortality of People With Serious Mental Illness

Bartels, Stephen J.; Baggett, Travis P.; Freudenreich, Oliver; Bird, Bruce L.

doi:10.1176/appi.ps.202000244

Cited by 43 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 7 publications

(5 reference statements)

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“…In the USA, for example, mental health providers and programmes have organised food delivery for vulnerable community members and worked with community leaders to ensure the inclusion of mental as well as physical health concerns in programmes. 80 Voluntary-sector user-run and carer-run service organisations in many countries have organised emergency funds for struggling people, virtual mutual support meetings, community conversations, and online resources. 81 , 82 Some countries have supplemented community support systems by reassigning staff, and volunteers have boosted staff numbers.…”

Section: Mental Health Service Responses To Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic

Moreno

Wykes

Galderisi

et al. 2020

The Lancet Psychiatry

1,339

1,070

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The unpredictability and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic; the associated lockdowns, physical distancing, and other containment strategies; and the resulting economic breakdown could increase the risk of mental health problems and exacerbate health inequalities. Preliminary findings suggest adverse mental health effects in previously healthy people and especially in people with pre-existing mental health disorders. Despite the heterogeneity of worldwide health systems, efforts have been made to adapt the delivery of mental health care to the demands of COVID-19. Mental health concerns have been addressed via the public mental health response and by adapting mental health services, mostly focusing on infection control, modifying access to diagnosis and treatment, ensuring continuity of care for mental health service users, and paying attention to new cases of mental ill health and populations at high risk of mental health problems. Sustainable adaptations of delivery systems for mental health care should be developed by experts, clinicians, and service users, and should be specifically designed to mitigate disparities in health-care provision. Thorough and continuous assessment of health and service-use outcomes in mental health clinical practice will be crucial for defining which practices should be further developed and which discontinued. For this Position Paper, an international group of clinicians, mental health experts, and users of mental health services has come together to reflect on the challenges for mental health that COVID-19 poses. The interconnectedness of the world made society vulnerable to this infection, but it also provides the infrastructure to address previous system failings by disseminating good practices that can result in sustained, efficient, and equitable delivery of mental health-care delivery. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic could be an opportunity to improve mental health services.

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Section: Mental Health Service Responses To Covid-19mentioning

confidence: 99%

How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic

Moreno

Wykes

Galderisi

et al. 2020

The Lancet Psychiatry

1,339

1,070

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Patients with serious mental illness (SMI) are believed to be at increased risk of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality given their medical risk factors, lack of good hygienic habits, homelessness, and oftencongregate living situation which can facilitate viral transmission (Bartels et al, 2020). Psychiatrists working with this patient population have seen the need to adjust the way they deliver care.…”

Section: Psychiatric Care In the Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a survey of 32 California non-profit behavioral health agencies, 87% lacked necessary equipment to conduct telehealth, and there was a general lack of access to PPE for staff. As decline in services and revenue occurred, some staff were furloughed or terminated (Bartels et al, 2020). In the setting of concerns for diminished workforce to care for patients and declining revenue, the State of Massachusetts has implemented policy, regulatory, and payment reforms for the provision of remote telehealth, access to residential care staff and medications, and financial support for community-based services (Bartels et al, 2020).…”

Section: Psychiatric Care In the Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As decline in services and revenue occurred, some staff were furloughed or terminated (Bartels et al, 2020). In the setting of concerns for diminished workforce to care for patients and declining revenue, the State of Massachusetts has implemented policy, regulatory, and payment reforms for the provision of remote telehealth, access to residential care staff and medications, and financial support for community-based services (Bartels et al, 2020). For example, waivers were issued to allow pharmacies to prescribe a larger amount of medications and for such increased amount to be stored in group homes.…”

Section: Psychiatric Care In the Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact on psychiatric care in the United States

Bojdani

Rajagopalan

Chen

et al. 2020

Psychiatry Research

266

227

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The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Infection by the SARS-CoV2 virus leads to the COVID-19 disease which can be fatal, especially in older patients with medical co-morbidities. The impact to the US healthcare system has been disruptive, and the way healthcare services are provided has changed drastically. Here, we present a compilation of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric care in the US, in the various settings: outpatient, emergency room, inpatient units, consultation services, and the community. We further present effects seen on psychiatric physicians in the setting of new and constantly evolving protocols where adjustment and flexibility have become the norm, training of residents, leading a team of professionals with different expertise, conducting clinical research, and ethical considerations. The purpose of this paper is to provide examples of "how to" processes based on our current front-line experiences and research to practicing psychiatrists and mental health clinicians, inform practitioners about national guidelines affecting psychiatric care during the pandemic, and inform health care policy makers and health care systems about the challenges and continued needs of financial and administrative support for psychiatric physicians and mental health systems.

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“…They provide counseling in the form of a chat called “Consultation of the social network services (SNS) mind related to COVID-19” [ 8 ]. While these national-level mental health/stress policies should be implemented after properly identifying citizens’ mental health conditions, stress, and needs concerning COVID-19, previous studies showed that the COVID-19 mental health policies in Korea and Japan lacked information about these needs [ 9 , 10 ]. People from different countries show different reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic due to their different sensitivities, government responses, and psychological support; thus, consideration of these diverse aspects is critical [ 11 – 13 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%