COVID-19 Impact on the Italian Community-based System of Mental Health Care: Reflections and Lessons Learned for the Future

Abstract

Despite the unprecedented wave of research and publications sparked by the recent pandemic, only few studies have investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the Italian community-based system of mental health care. We aimed to summarize the available evidence from the literature also considering what we have learned from our daily clinical practice. As hospital care was restricted by COVID-19, although reducing their opening hours and activities, Community Mental Health Centers promoted continuity of care for at-risk populations, supporting them to cope with loneliness and hopelessness during quarantine and self-isolation. Ensuring continuity of care also remotely, via teleconsultation, lowered the risk of psychopathological decompensation and consequent need of hospitalization for mental health patients, with satisfaction expressed both by patients and mental health workers. Considering what we have learned from the pandemic, the organization and the activity of the Italian community-based system of mental health care would need to be implemented through 1) the promotion of a "territorial epidemiology" that makes mental health needs visible in terms of health care workers involved, 2) the increase of mental health resources in line with the other European high-income countries, 3) the formalization of structured initiatives of primary care and mental health cooperation, 4) the creation of youth mental health services following a multidimensional and multidisciplinary approach and encouraging family participation, 5) the promotion of day centers, to build competence and self-identity within a more participatory life, and programs geared to employment as valid models of recovery-oriented rehabilitation.

Rifondare l’assistenza pediatrica: prima di tutto spetta a noi!

“…Tra i cinque punti riportati nelle proposte della SIP non c'è un doveroso richiamo a quella che è la Salute mentale dei nostri bambini e adolescenti. I dati sui disagi che sono esplosi con la crisi pandemica non hanno bisogno di ulteriori commenti [6][7][8] . I bambini e gli adolescenti con disturbi neuropsichici e le loro famiglie sono tutt'oggi oggetto di pregiudizi che interferiscono con la diagnosi e la terapia, con l'inclusione sociale e soprattutto con la programmazione sanitaria.…”

Self-perception and COVID-19 vaccination self-efficacy among Chinese adults: A moderated mediation model of mental health and trust

“…Mental health has been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic, while measures of social isolation and confinement result in a considerable rise in the prevalence of depressive and anxious symptoms ( Amerio et al, 2023 ). The COVID-19 infection can cause neuropsychiatric symptoms, which in turn cause a series of mental health problems ( De Berardis et al, 2022 ).…”

The Responsiveness of Mental Health Service Professionals to Two Years of Pandemic Emergency in Italy

“…In MHSs with adequate digital resources (i.e., internet connectivity, availability of devices for users and operators, appropriate digital literacy), remote work was evaluated as useful to facilitate participation in staff meetings and to ensure psychological support and clinical assessments for users (Di Carlo et al, 2021 ; Johnson et al, 2021 ; Sheridan Rains et al, 2021 ). As stated by Amerio et al ( 2023 ), COVID-19 pandemic represented “an opportunity to overcome normative, technological, and cultural barriers to the use of online psychotherapy, showing the importance of adapting the therapeutic setting to both collective and individual needs”. Staff resilience and satisfaction for support received by health agencies were also found (Pappa et al, 2021 ).…”