We assessed challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented for mental health systems and the responses to these challenges in 14 countries in Europe and North America. Experts from each country filled out a structured questionnaire with closed- and open-ended questions between January and June 2021. We conducted thematic analysis to investigate the qualitative responses to open-ended questions, and we summarized the responses to closed-ended survey items on changes in telemental health policies and regulations. Findings revealed that many countries grappled with the rising demand for mental health services against a backdrop of mental health provider shortages and challenges responding to workforce stress and burnout. All countries in our sample implemented new policies or initiatives to strengthen mental health service delivery – with more than two-thirds investing to bolster their specialized mental health care sector. There was a universal shift to telehealth to deliver a larger portion of mental health services in all 14 countries, which was facilitated by changes in national regulations and policies; 11 of the 14 participating countries relaxed regulations and 10 of 14 countries made changes to reimbursement policies to facilitate telemental health care. These findings provide a first step to assess the long-term challenges and re-organizational effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health systems in Europe and North America.
Cummings, J. R., Zhang, X., Gandre, C., Morsella, A., Shields-Zeeman, L., Winkelmann, J., Allin, S., Augusto, G. F., Cascini, F., Cserhati, Z., De Belvis, A., Eriksen, A., Fronteira, I., Jamieson, M., Murauskiene, L., Palmer, W. L., Ricciardi, W., Samuel, H., Scintee, S. G., Taube, M., Vrangbaek, K., Van Ginneken, E., Challenges facing mental health systems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 14 European and North American countries, <<HEALTH POLICY>>, 2023; 136 (6): 104878-104884. [doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104878] [https://hdl.handle.net/10807/258248]
Challenges facing mental health systems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from 14 European and North American countries
Morsella, Alisha;Cascini, Fidelia;De Belvis, Antonio;Ricciardi, Walter;
2023
Abstract
We assessed challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented for mental health systems and the responses to these challenges in 14 countries in Europe and North America. Experts from each country filled out a structured questionnaire with closed- and open-ended questions between January and June 2021. We conducted thematic analysis to investigate the qualitative responses to open-ended questions, and we summarized the responses to closed-ended survey items on changes in telemental health policies and regulations. Findings revealed that many countries grappled with the rising demand for mental health services against a backdrop of mental health provider shortages and challenges responding to workforce stress and burnout. All countries in our sample implemented new policies or initiatives to strengthen mental health service delivery – with more than two-thirds investing to bolster their specialized mental health care sector. There was a universal shift to telehealth to deliver a larger portion of mental health services in all 14 countries, which was facilitated by changes in national regulations and policies; 11 of the 14 participating countries relaxed regulations and 10 of 14 countries made changes to reimbursement policies to facilitate telemental health care. These findings provide a first step to assess the long-term challenges and re-organizational effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health systems in Europe and North America.
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