COVID-19 shed light on mental health as a significant public health problem. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of individuals around the world. As such, mental health practitioners must be prepared to respond effectively to the changing needs of their patients. Adaptive leadership and change management are two essential tools that can be used to assist patients with mental health issues post-COVID-19. By combining these two approaches, mental health practitioners can ensure that their services are effective and meet the needs of their patients in the post-COVID-19 world. This chapter uses intervention action research (I.A.R.) to help organizational leaders address workplace challenges and enhance their profession by engaging organizational stakeholders in creating, executing, and assessing interventions in a problem-solving, assessment, and reflection cycle.
TopIntroduction
The post-COVID-19 on-set world faces serious problems with mental health. The current novel coronavirus epidemic has had a significant effect on mental health worldwide. The pandemic's long-term impacts on mental health are still being realized, according to the World Health Organization (2020), and they are expected to be profound. An effective post-pandemic recovery depends on addressing mental health as a major public health issue. All over the world, people are dealing with the pandemic's effects on their mental health, including a rise in stress and anxiety brought on by increased loneliness, financial strain, job insecurity, and disruptions to everyday life (Robbins, 2020). Additionally, the pandemic has increased both the prevalence of adults and children suffering from mental illnesses like anxiety and melancholy. (Lopez, 2020). Additionally, the pandemic has exacerbated existing mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and bipolar disorder (Campos et al., 2022: Prashanth, 2022).
The impact of the pandemic on mental health is being felt in communities across the globe. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; 2020) reported that 11.3% of adults aged 18 and over experienced severe mental distress in 2020, up from 8.1% in 2019. According to Bethune (2021), 29% of respondents said their mental health has gotten worse since the pandemic started. A study by Liu et al., (2022)
295 (16.40%) and 329 (18.30%) participants in a sample of 1795 Chinese medical staff members reported having PTSD and depression, respectively. The COVID-19 epidemic has disrupted or stopped key mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide, according to a World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) report, despite the fact that demand for mental health services is rising. Also, the survey of 130 nations offers the first global data demonstrating the detrimental effects of COVID-19 on the availability of mental health care and highlights the requirement for further funding (WHO, 2020). The pandemic has also caused an increase in mental health services utilization around the world (Richter et al., 2021). In the United States, for example, the CDC (2020) reported that the number of adults who used mental health services increased from 32.2% in 2019 to 37.2% in 2020.
It is critical to address mental health as a serious issue in public health. Governments and health groups must give initiatives to increase access to mental health services top priority in order to address this problem. To reach those who cannot access in-person care, this involves extending access to mental health services, such as telehealth services (Thomas et al., 2022). In order to guarantee a sufficient supply of trained professionals to meet the rising demand for mental health services, governments must also make investments in the mental health workforce.
Untreated mental health conditions can result in substance abuse, inappropriate incarceration, suicide, and inadequate quality of life (Meachem, 2021). Statistics show that around 25% of Black Americans seek mental health care, compared to 40% of their white counterparts, according to a fact check by REVOLT (Alysse, 2022). Inequality in health care access is the cause of this difference. Moreover, Black women are often characterized as vital caregivers and providers who shoulder others' burdens and do not share their own; thus, they do not seek mental health services (Pappas, 2021). The mental health crisis for African Americans is further intensified by a lack of African American providers imposing cultural sensitivity: 86% of mental health professionals are White. In contrast, only 4% are African American (Lin et al., 2018; O’Malley, 2021). This statistic plays a considerable part in the delivery of care, given the desire for members of the Black community to have a black therapist. The lack of Black therapists is a minor problem to a much larger issue triggering the mental health crisis. Underdiagnosing mental disorders, stigma, lack of community resources, and a lack of mental health providers are all factors that have led to mental health care inequities and poor health outcomes.