Telemedicine may well outlast the pandemic, say mental health care staff

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about rapid innovation in mental health care, and the move to telemedicine is likely here to stay to at least some degree, but new research led by UCL and King's College London cautions that serious barriers still need to be overcome. In a new survey in the UK and an international review of evidence from 29 countries, mental health care staff report how the pandemic and lockdown have been harmful to some people accessing mental health services. The two new studies are published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology and are led by the UCL- and KCL-led NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit (MHPRU). One is a survey of 2,180 mental health professionals in the UK, and the other is a summary of reports from 872 papers and articles across six continents. The international review identified multiple reports that the pandemic exacerbated symptoms for people with mental health conditions. Many people had increased anxiety due to concerns about getting infected, while others struggled with the loss of routine, or social isolation and loneliness. Numerous studies raised concerns that social adversities and inequalities may continue to worsen.