Availability and Accessibility of Mental Health Services for Youth: A Descriptive Survey of Safety-Net Health Centers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Posttraumatic stress symptoms among Chinese university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Prevalence, correlates, and mental health help-seeking

BACKGROUND

Revisiting the epidemiology of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSSs) among university students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as well as understanding the mental health help-seeking behavior of individuals with PTSSs has critical implications for public mental health strategies in future medical pandemics.

AIM

To investigate the prevalence and correlates of PTSSs among university students during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to examine mental health help-seeking behaviors among these students.

METHODS

A total of 2507 Chinese university students were recruited via snowball sampling. The students completed the Seven-item Screening Scale for Post-traumatic Stress Disorder during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Sociodemographic characteristics, pandemic-related characteristics, and mental health help-seeking behaviors of students with PTSSs were also collected.

RESULTS

The prevalence of PTSSs among the participants was 28.0%. Seven significant correlates of PTSSs were identified (odds ratio = 1.23-3.65, P ≤ 0.024): Female sex, being 19 years old or older, living with others or alone, a low level of family economic status, fair or poor interpersonal relationships, severe or very severe local pandemic, and having family members diagnosed with COVID-19. However, only 3.28% of the students with PTSSs reported seeking help from mental health specialists. Among the 23 students who sought help from mental health specialists, 13 opted for online or telephone-based psychological consultation.

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that there was a high risk of PTSSs among university students and a high level of unmet mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivery of mental health services online or via telephone is a promising approach to address these unmet needs.

The Declaration of the National Emergency in Child and Adolescent Mental Health: It Takes a Village

Recognition of the high prevalence of children's mental health conditions and challenges to accessing needed care faced by children and their families have been long-standing concerns, emerging well before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Global data examining the prevalence of at least one mental health and/or substance-use disorder for 2516 million people aged 5 to 24 years in 2019 found that at least 293 million people were affected by at least one mental health disorder and 31 million affected by a substance-use disorder.

Addressing Inequities in Access to Mental Healthcare: A Policy Analysis of Community Mental Health Systems Serving Minoritized Populations in North Carolina

Racial and ethnic minoritized uninsured populations in the United States face the greatest barriers to accessing mental healthcare. Historically, systems of care in the U.S. were set up using inadequate evidence at the federal, state, and local levels, driving inequities in access to quality care for minoritized populations. These inequities are most evident in community-based mental health services, which are partially or fully funded by federal programs and predominantly serve historically minoritized groups. In this descriptive policy analysis, we outline the history of federal legislative policies that have dictated community mental health systems and how these policies were implemented in North Carolina, which has a high percentage of uninsured communities of color. Several gaps between laws passed in the last 60 years and research on improving inequities in access to mental health services are discussed. Recommendations to expand/fix these policies include funding accurate data collection and implementation methods such as electronic health record (EHR) systems to ensure policies are informed by extensive data, implementation of evidence-informed and culturally sensitive interventions, and prioritizing preventative services that move past traditional models of mental healthcare.

Utilization of Health Care Services and Accessibility Challenges among Adults Aged 50+ before and after Austerity Measures across 27 European Countries: Secular Trends in the SHARE Study from 2004/05 to 2019/20

This study aimed to assess and compare the utilization of preventive and other health services and the cost or availability in different regions of Europe, before and during the economic crisis. The data used in the study were obtained from Wave 8 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2019/2020) and Wave 1 data (2004/5), with a sample size of 46,106 individuals aged ≥50 across 27 countries, adjusted to represent a population of N = 180,886,962. Composite scores were derived for preventive health services utilization (PHSU), health care services utilization (HCSU), and lack of accessibility/availability in health care services (LAAHCS). Southern countries had lower utilization of preventive services and higher utilization of other health services compared to northern countries, with a significant lack of convergence. Moreover, the utilization of preventive health services decreased, whereas the utilization of secondary care services increased during the austerity period. Southern European countries had a significantly higher prevalence of lack of accessibility. An increase in the frequency of lack of accessibility/availability in health care services was observed from 2004/5 to 2019/20. In conclusion, our findings suggest that health inequalities increase during crisis periods. Therefore, policy interventions could prioritize accessibility and expand health coverage and prevention services.