Researchers Recommend Strategies to Mitigate Risks Due to COVID-19 Economic Impact

The journals of APA Publishing are receiving numerous submissions on aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. To get information about findings to the field faster,Psychiatric News is posting summaries of these submissions soon after acceptance.Among the many ways COVID-19 has adversely impacted mental health is via the economic recession caused by this pandemic. Using data gleamed from previous economic crises, a team of specialists has suggested several health policy actions that may mitigate some of the impact of this recession. These recommendations were posted in aPsychiatric Servicesarticle in press.“The immediate need is to expand suicide and domestic violence response systems, to shore up providers facing financial distress in the near term, and to limit state and local budget service cuts when the COVID-19 crisis wanes,” wrote Alison Cuellar, Ph.D., of George Mason University and colleag ues. “It is important to extend this support to communities that are hit economically by closures and other policies, independent of the prevalence of COVID-19.”Cuellar and colleagues recommended several policy solutions to help meet likely demands for behavioral health care:Increase investment in suicide prevention. The authors commended Congress for allocating $50 million for suicide prevention programs to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but noted more funding is likel...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Alison Cuellar COVID-19 domestic violence economic impacts insurance coverage mental health Psychiatric Services recession social services suicide prevention telehealth Source Type: research