Browsing by Author "Shields-Zeeman, Laura"

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    Challenges facing mental health systems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic : Evidence from 14 European and North American countries
    (2023-10) Cummings, Janet R.; Zhang, Xinyue; Gandré, Coralie; Morsella, Alisha; Shields-Zeeman, Laura; Winkelmann, Juliane; Allin, Sara; Augusto, Gonçalo Figueiredo; Cascini, Fidelia; Cserháti, Zoltán; de Belvis, Antonio Giulio; Eriksen, Astrid; Fronteira, Inês; Jamieson, Margaret; Murauskienė, Liubovė; Palmer, William L.; Ricciardi, Walter; Samuel, Hadar; Scintee, Silvia Gabriela; Taube, Māris; Vrangbæk, Karsten; van Ginneken, Ewout; Department of Psychiatry and Narcology
    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.