The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on population mental health policy: A Scottish case study

Abstract

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged many mental health systems across Europe. As whole populations experienced extended social restrictions of various levels, there has been an emerging appreciation of the importance of prevention and early intervention to population mental health. In response some countries and nations produced COVID-19-specific mental health plans or updated existing strategies. Mental health policy development can play an important role in countries' recovery from the effects of the pandemic. Policy can be defined as the position that a government takes on a particular issue including descriptions of how the government will respond, statements of scope, values, responsibilities, resource allocation, delivery, engagement and governance structures, as well as detailed commitments to actions. Policy frames the allocation of resources and effort in the direction of agreed social goals. Scotland had a progressive history regarding mental health service delivery, but less focus on prevention in its policy. This workshop will explore the mental health response to the pandemic in Scotland with a focus on prevention and early intervention. It will describe the pandemic context in Scotland, drawing on findings from the Coronavirus: Mental Health in the Pandemic study led by the Mental Health Foundation in partnership with Cambridge, Swansea and Strathclyde Universities and Queens University Belfast. This study has utilized repeated cross-sectional surveys of a representative sample of adults in Scotland to explore the emotional and psychological responses of adults to the evolving circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. The workshop will then describe the process of developing Scotland's COVID-specific mental health policy and highlights of the policy. It will report on implementation of the preventative and early intervention policy elements to date and discuss the implications of the pandemic for Scotland's medium-term mental health policy landscape.