COVID-19 and Mental Health Providers

COVID-19 and Mental Health Providers

Author: Amanda Johnson

Slide 1: Hello! Thank you for listening. This PowerPoint is designed to be a quick summary of my webpage discussing the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health workforce. This project is part of my Master’s of Public Health course in Environmental Health.

Slide 2: So, let’s start broadly. Many of us feel and know that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased stress-kids are out of school, people are out of jobs, we are socially isolated, and so much more. This has led many to seek mental health services and the strain this pandemic has created on the mental health workforce needs to be addressed. While not thought of as the typical “frontline workers,” mental health providers are now under increased pressure.

Slide 3: Let’s quickly talk about some general numbers. Before COVID-19, about 20% of U.S. adults experienced mental health illnesses per year. After COVID-19, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 53% of adults are now experiencing negative mental health impacts as a result of the pandemic. The graph on the right side of the slide is one of the many graphs from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s website.

Slide 4: In terms of children and adolescents, prevalence of mental health disorders prior to the pandemic was 13.4%. Now, 40.1% of parents are observing signs of distress in their children and adolescents. The links below are from NPR talks in partnership with Buffalo-Toronto Public Media related to mental health and COVID-19. The first link is for the session on children and adolescents while the second link has their complete list of talks.

Slide 5: We should also spend some time on vulnerable populations and environmental justice. Certain populations are under more stress with the pandemic such as those with prior mental health diagnoses and “frontline workers,” to name a few. With COVID-19, those of color and those with marginalized gender identities needing mental health services are disproportionately being impacted by the pandemic and other events of 2020, such as the death of George Floyd, which is further widening gaps that were present prior to the pandemic.

Now, let’s put on our occupational health lens.

Slide 6: “It is not a matter of if but when the mental health consequences of the threat of disease, grief and loss, economic strain, and social changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic will overburden the mental health care system. Similar to calls for frontline workers, mental health providers need protection and support as they tackle the mental health wave of this pandemic and prepare for future events.”

The strain on our mental health workforce cannot be ignored.

Slide 7: Prior to COVID-19, mental health and substance use disorders formed the highest disease burden in the U.S. over all other conditions. With COVID-19, Disaster Distress Hotline calls have risen over 300%. Providers are negatively impacted in a variety of ways including those providers of color seeing increasing gaps to access of already marginalized populations, provider’s own fears about the pandemic, and “telehealth fatigue.”

Slide 8: To start, we can improve the mental health workforce strain by encouraging provider self-care, support groups, webinars, and ensure that those in the mental health workforce have their own mental health providers to support them through these challenging times.

Slide 9: However, while these solutions are good, they are likely somewhat of a “band-aid.” As we say in Public Health, let’s try to move further upstream to make bigger changes.

Slide 10: In moving more upstream, we can expand the mental health workforce-allow students to do telehealth visits, incorporate community members into screening and triage, as well as mobilize digital and artificial intelligence platforms. You could also think about pooling providers into bigger groups to divide the work.

Slide 11: With regard to vulnerable populations and environmental justice, there’s a call that the mental health workforce strain is a public health problem. The two groups need to join together to advocate for changes. Medicare is working on a coalition to improve coverage of mental health visits. Additionally, counseling support could be risk-stratified to be more equitable.

Slide 12: Policy changes are the furthest upstream interventions. We can push for accelerated skill development, job redeployment, incentivizing local job growth, and advocating for universal paid sick leave. We also need continued flexible insurance reimbursement to fund telehealth as well as allowing repayment plans for uninsured individuals to make access more equitable.

Slide 13: I hope you enjoyed this summary and if you are interested in learning more please check out my webpage for many great links and more information. Thank you!