This Psychiatric Services brief report describes a study that followed up with peer support specialists (PSSs) responding to an earlier survey to assess the pandemic’s continued employment and personal effects. A total of 496 PSSs completed both surveys. Unemployment remained at 7%. The proportion with full-time employment increased by December, but financial instability also increased. Tasks involving individual support and group facilitation, which had decreased significantly, rebounded somewhat by December, when nearly all PSSs (86%) reported having some new tasks.
An article published in Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. Researchers surveyed 270 working adults with psychiatric disabilities in April and May 2020. This is the first study to suggest the important role that work played for people with preexisting behavioral health disorders during the pandemic, with both positive and negative influences, and important implications for services and supports.
This Taking Issue segment appeared in the September 2020 issue of the Journal Psychiatric Services. The authors ask what can be done to support people with serious mental illness in the long term as they resume lives in an uncertain society with confusing, often contradictory guidelines for avoiding infection and preventing the spread of the virus to others. As society reopens, closes, and reopens again, how can resumption of community life be facilitated for people with serious mental illnesses?
Self-Management Education and Support Referral Algorithm is designed to help primary care providers follow guidelines recommended by the Institute of Medicine to choose a self-management program to meet their patients’ needs at different stages of emotional distress. The algorithm identifies what kinds of knowledge patients need, the self-management programs that provide it, and how to locate these programs in their local communities.
This collection offers a collection of wellness self-management strategies and resources for people with serious mental illness. Learn how to manage stress, cope with anxiety, combat loneliness, or explore virtual distractions with art, music, museum tours, and more. The collection also includes resources for physical health and wellness, supports for behavioral health providers and other support personnel, and resources to help children, teens, and young adults cope during the outbreak.
This guide provides helpful tips for college students with mental health conditions, including considerations for remote, in-person, and hybrid learning formats. The guide also covers self-advocacy planning and campus engagement planning strategies that will help students maintain their academic success and well-being as a college student in 2020.
