Mental Health Policy in the Era of COVID-19

Matthew L Goldman; Benjamin G Druss; Marcela Horvitz-Lennon; Grayson S Norquist; Kristin Kroeger Ptakowski; Amy Brinkley; Miranda Greiner; Heath Hayes; Brian Hepburn; Shea Jorgensen; Marvin S Swartz; Lisa B Dixon

doi:10.1176/appi.ps.202000219

Mental Health Policy in the Era of COVID-19

Psychiatr Serv. 2020 Nov 1;71(11):1158-1162. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202000219. Epub 2020 Jun 10.

Affiliation

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco (Goldman); Rollins School of Public Health (Druss) and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Norquist), Emory University, Atlanta; RAND Corporation, Boston, and Health Equity Research Lab, Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts (Horvitz-Lennon); Department of Policies, Programs, and Partnerships, American Psychiatric Association, Washington, D.C. (Kroeger Ptakowski); Indiana Department of Mental Health and Addiction, Indianapolis (Brinkley); Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical Center, New York (Greiner); Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Oklahoma City (Hayes); National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Alexandria, Virginia (Hepburn); Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City (Jorgensen); Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina (Swartz); Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York (Dixon).

PMID: 32517639
DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.202000219

Abstract

The response to the global COVID-19 pandemic has important ramifications for mental health systems and the patients they serve. This article describes significant changes in mental health policy prompted by the COVID-19 crisis across five major areas: legislation, regulation, financing, accountability, and workforce development. Special considerations for mental health policy are discussed, including social determinants of health, innovative technologies, and research and evaluation. These extraordinary advances provide an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate the effects of mental health policies that may be adopted in the post-COVID-19 era in the United States.

Keywords: Mental health systems/hospitals; Public policy issues.

MeSH terms

COVID-19
Coronavirus Infections / epidemiology*
Health Policy / trends*
Humans
Inventions
Mental Health / trends*
Pandemics
Pneumonia, Viral / epidemiology*
Social Determinants of Health
United States
Workforce