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Published Online: 12 August 2020

The Behavioral Health System and Its Response to COVID-19: A Snapshot Perspective

Debra A. Pinals, M.D. [email protected], Brian Hepburn, M.D., Joseph Parks, M.D., and Arlene H. Stephenson, M.A.S.Authors Info & Affiliations
Publication: Psychiatric Services
Volume 71, Number 10
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000264
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Abstract

The global experience of the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented. The magnitude, pace, and uncertainty of the pandemic have taxed systems and catalyzed innovation in many fields, including behavioral health. Behavioral health leaders have absorbed changing information about regulations and laws, proper use of personal protective equipment, isolation and quarantine, telepsychiatry practices (broadly defined here as the use of virtual and telephonic means to provide behavioral health care), and financial opportunities and challenges while attending to the mental health needs of local populations. This Open Forum reviews many of the adaptations of the behavioral health system in response to COVID-19 on the basis of a point-in-time snapshot and describes needed multidimensional policy and practice considerations for the future.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Volume 71 • Number 10 • October 01, 2020
Pages: 1070 - 1074
PubMed: 32781926

History

Received: 20 April 2020
Revision received: 25 April 2020
Accepted: 25 April 2020
Published online: 12 August 2020
Published in print: October 01, 2020

Keywords

  1. administration and management
  2. disasters
  3. disaster behavioral health
  4. pandemic
  5. COVID-19
  6. public mental health

Authors

Details

Debra A. Pinals, M.D. [email protected]
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (Pinals); National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Alexandria, Virginia (Hepburn); National Council for Behavioral Health, Washington, D.C. (Parks); private practice and consulting, Carolina Beach, North Carolina (Stephenson).
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Brian Hepburn, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (Pinals); National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Alexandria, Virginia (Hepburn); National Council for Behavioral Health, Washington, D.C. (Parks); private practice and consulting, Carolina Beach, North Carolina (Stephenson).
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Joseph Parks, M.D.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (Pinals); National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Alexandria, Virginia (Hepburn); National Council for Behavioral Health, Washington, D.C. (Parks); private practice and consulting, Carolina Beach, North Carolina (Stephenson).
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Arlene H. Stephenson, M.A.S.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor (Pinals); National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Alexandria, Virginia (Hepburn); National Council for Behavioral Health, Washington, D.C. (Parks); private practice and consulting, Carolina Beach, North Carolina (Stephenson).
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Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Pinals ([email protected]).

Competing Interests

The authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

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