The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health services: the provider perspective

Abstract

Background The impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on mental health of populations is in focus recently but few studies focus on service adaptations to ensure care provision for the mentally ill. In India, where community-based mental healthcare is led by non-government organizations (NGOs), this is a crucial time to gather evidence on how these organizations adapted to the challenges. Methods We explored provider perspectives in an NGO providing mental health services to communities using in-depth interviews and a focus group discussion to understand the impact on services and adaptations during the COVID 19 pandemic. Results Three elements of service provision were highlighted: established relationships with communities, responsiveness to the patient needs, and resilience in ensuring continuity. Responding to the end-to-end care needs of the clients and continual adaptations were vital for ensuring continued services. Telemedicine enabled expansion of service and clientele as well as efficiency, but there were issues of casualization of therapy and poor privacy. Conclusions The study provides an understanding of adaptations to ensure continuity of care to mentally ill during disruptions. Insights from strategies are crucial to help plan for resilient community-based mental health care services.

Global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health services: A systematic review

“…COVID-19-related treatment service disruptions among people with single- and polysubstance use concerns. J Subst Abuse Treat .,121:108,180 USA (no region specified) 27.04.2020–13.05.2020 Determine if specific groups with substance use were more likely to experience unmet service needs Survey of patients & family networks 1148 participants who use substances and their relatives People with history of use of multiple substances: more likely to report that COVID-19 has affected their treatment & service access more likely to report both use of telehealth services & difficulties accessing needed service high Nair, S., Kannan, P., Mehta, K., Raju, A., Mathew, J., & Ramachandran, P. ( 2021 ). The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health services: the provider perspective.…”

“…Many studies noted staff as poorly trained to respond to the pandemic, particularly concerning the delivery of TP ( Antiporta and Bruni, 2020 ; Rosenberg et al, 2020 ; Thome et al, 2020 ). In some places, scarce resources had affected the MHS already before the pandemic and were now hindering the transition to TP or caused job loss and pay cuts ( Antiporta and Bruni, 2020 ; Nair et al, 2021 ; Ojeahere et al, 2020 ). Some services closed completely for a certain amount of time (n studies = 20, see Table 2 ).…”

“…The authors identified shifts towards reduced bureaucracy, more flexibility, and agile and responsive ways of working. In many places, helplines and new crisis services were rapidly established as alternatives to emergency departments, and some community MHS changed the type of help offered, such as starting to provide resource packs for patients ( Johnson et al, 2021 ; Legrand et al, 2021 ; Nair et al, 2021 ).…”

“…In Italy, 25% of community MHS decreased their hours of access ( Carpiniello et al, 2020 ). Nair et al (2021) used interviews and a focus group discussion with Indian NGO service providers in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, and found that patients could not physically access MHS or were restricted in their movement. Often waitlists became longer as demand for MHS increased ( Ashcroft et al, 2021 ; Sammons et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Professionals started using therapy apps ( Johnson et al, 2021 ), social media ( Jurcik et al, 2020 ; Reilly et al, 2020 ), and messengers to reach out to patients ( Honey et al, 2021 ; Shaw et al, 2021 ), or the general public, patients or families or they established helplines ( Jurcik et al, 2020 ; Legrand et al, 2021 ; Nair et al, 2021 ; Ojeahere et al, 2020 ; Reilly et al, 2020 ; Revet et al, 2020 ; Pajević et al, 2020 ).…”