New online toolkit for primary care providers can support COVID-19-related mental health care

Pandemics and quarantines are known to cause a significant increase in mental health and substance use issues, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is a collective, chronic stressor. 

Many of these issues may present themselves in patients seeking primary care, and challenge providers and their teams to respond effectively.

That’s why University of Michigan experts from mental health, substance abuse and primary care disciplines teamed up to create a COVID-19 Mental Health Toolkit for Providers . The team is making the toolkit available free to assist healthcare providers as they navigate their patients’ responses to traumatic stress reactions; identify and respond to signs of elder abuse, child abuse and substance abuse; and advise patients on sleep difficulties during and after the pandemic.

The toolkit has information on how primary care providers can screen patients for mental health related issues. It also includes scripts for primary care team members to use with patients, and resources that providers can share with patients, including children, adolescents, adults, geriatric patients and many specific populations.

“It is our hope that the toolkit will increase awareness of the pandemic’s impact on mental health and substance abuse across the lifespan and across diverse groups, and serve as a comprehensive resource for providers, with screening measures and concrete tools to assist with meeting patients’ needs,” said Leslie Swanson, Ph.D. 

To see the toolkit visit https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/psychiatry/michigan-psychiatry-resources-covid-19/healthcare-providers/covid-19-mental-health-toolkit