Federal News & Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 2, 2021 – According to a new public opinion poll released today by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), concern about COVID-19 remains high, especially concern over loved ones, and more people are reporting mental health impacts from pandemic than last year. Parents are especially concerned about their children’s mental well-being.

Americans are more anxious about family and loved ones catching the coronavirus (64%) than about catching the virus themselves (49%). Moreover, concern toward family and loved ones catching the virus has increased since last year, from 56% then to 64% now. Hispanics/Latinos (73%) and African Americans/Blacks (76%) are more anxious about COVID-19 than whites (59%).

More than four in ten Americans (41%) say they are more anxious than last year. While still...

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 2021 – During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers face unprecedented challenges that pose a threat to mental health and resilience. A preliminary assessment of a program of coaching for healthcare workers, presented at the American Psychiatric Association’s Annual Meeting, held online, finds it is effective in supporting workers’ wellness and resilience.

Based on experience supporting colleagues through SARS in 2003, mental health clinicians from the Psychiatry Department at Sinai Health in Toronto, Ontario, designed and implemented an initiative to support colleagues’ wellness and resilience in 2020 early in the pandemic. Resilience Coaching for Health Care Workers is designed to support psychological wellbeing during times of chronic stress and to help workers “keep their heads in the game...