Challenges facing mental health systems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic : Evidence from 14 European and North American countries
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Date
2023-10
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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.
Description
Funding Information: ☆ This article has been made Open Access through funding by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies as part of its Health Systems and Policy Monitor ( www.hspm.org), an innovative platform that provides a detailed description of health systems and provides up to date information on reforms and changes that are particularly policy relevant. Publisher Copyright: © 2023
Keywords
Health policy, Healthcare reform, Healthcare systems, Mental health, Telehealth, 3.2 Clinical medicine, 3.3 Health sciences, 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database, Health Policy, SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Citation
Cummings, J R, Zhang, X, Gandré, C, Morsella, A, Shields-Zeeman, L, Winkelmann, J, Allin, S, Augusto, G F, Cascini, F, Cserháti, Z, de Belvis, A G, Eriksen, A, Fronteira, I, Jamieson, M, Murauskienė, L, Palmer, W L, Ricciardi, W, Samuel, H, Scintee, S G, Taube, M, Vrangbæk, K & van Ginneken, E 2023, 'Challenges facing mental health systems arising from the COVID-19 pandemic : Evidence from 14 European and North American countries', Health Policy, vol. 136, 104878. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2023.104878