The Early Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health Facilities and Psychiatric Professionals

Jade Gourret Baumgart, Hélène Kane, Wissam El-Hage, Jocelyn Deloyer, Christine Maes, Marie-Clotilde Lebas, Donatella Marazziti, Johannes Thome, Laurence Fond-Harmant and Frédéric Denis
Additional contact information
Jade Gourret Baumgart: EA 75-05 Éducation, Éthique, Santé (EES), Faculté de Médecine, Université François-Rabelais, 37020 Tours, France
Hélène Kane: EA 75-05 Éducation, Éthique, Santé (EES), Faculté de Médecine, Université François-Rabelais, 37020 Tours, France
Wissam El-Hage: CIC 1415, U 1253 iBrain, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Centre d’Investigation Clinique, Centre Hospitalier Régional Universitaire (CHRU), 37000 Tours, France
Jocelyn Deloyer: Centre Neuro Psychiatrique St-Martin (CNP), 5100 Namur, Belgium
Christine Maes: Centre Neuro Psychiatrique St-Martin (CNP), 5100 Namur, Belgium
Marie-Clotilde Lebas: Département des Sciences de la Santé Publique et de la Motricité, Haute Ecole de la Province de Namur (HEPN), 5000 Namur, Belgium
Donatella Marazziti: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Section of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Johannes Thome: Department of Psychiatry, University of Rostock, 18055 Rostock, Germany
Laurence Fond-Harmant: Agence de Coopération Scientifique Europe-Afrique (ACSEA), L-2010 Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Frédéric Denis: EA 75-05 Éducation, Éthique, Santé (EES), Faculté de Médecine, Université François-Rabelais, 37020 Tours, France

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 15, 1-35

Abstract: (1) Background: While in many countries, the psychiatric and mental health sectors had been in crisis for years, the onset of a novel coronavirus pandemic impacted their structures, organizations, and professionals worldwide. (2) Methods: To document the early impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis on psychiatry and mental health sectors, a systematic review of the international literature published in 2020 was conducted in PubMed (MEDLINE), Cairn.info, and SantéPsy (Ascodocpsy) databases. (3) Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 72 articles from scientific journals were selected, including papers documenting the early impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organization of psychiatric care delivery, work processes in psychiatry and mental health units, and personal experiences of mental health professionals. This review identified the contributions aimed at preventing the onset of mental disorders in the early stages of the health crisis. It lists the organizational changes that have been implemented in the first place to ensure continuity of psychiatric care while reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission. It questions the evolution of the rights and duties of mental health professionals in the first months of the pandemic. (4) Discussion and conclusions: Although this literature review exclusively documented the early impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis, it is of significant interest, as it pictures the unprecedent situation in which psychiatry and mental health care professionals found themselves in the first stages of the pandemic. This work is a preliminary step of a study to be conducted with mental health professionals on an international scale—the Psy-GIPO2C project—based on more than 15 group interviews, 30 individual interviews, and 2000 questionnaires. The final aim of this study is to formulate concrete recommendations for decision-makers to improve work in psychiatry and mental health.

Keywords: psychiatry; mental health; mental health facilities; mental health professionals; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; epidemic; pandemic; systematic review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8034/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8034/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:15:p:8034-:d:604413

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().