Mental health practitioners' immediate practical response during the COVID-19 pandemic: Observational questionnaire study

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has been associated with increased psychological distress, signaling the need for increased mental health services in the context of stay-at-home policies. Objective: This study aims to characterize how mental health practitioners have changed their practices during the pandemic. The authors hypothesize that mental health practitioners would increase tele-mental health services and that certain provider types would be better able to adapt to tele-mental health than others. Methods: The study surveyed 903 practitioners, primarily psychologists/doctoral-level (Psych/DL) providers, social workers/master's-level (SW/ML) providers, and neuropsychologists employed in academic medical centers or private practices. Differences among providers were examined using Bonferroni-adjusted chi-square tests and one-way Bonferroni-adjusted analyses of covariance. Results: The majority of the 903 mental health practitioners surveyed rapidly adjusted their practices, predominantly by shifting to tele-mental health appointments (n=729, 80.82%). Whereas 80.44% (n=625) were not using tele-mental health in December 2019, only 22.07% (n=188) were not by late March or early April 2020. Only 2.11% (n=19) reported no COVID-19-related practice adjustments. Two-thirds (596/888, 67.10%) reported providing additional therapeutic services specifically to treat COVID-19-related concerns. Neuropsychologists were less likely and Psych/DL providers and SW/ML providers were more likely than expected to transition to tele-mental health (P