Covid and Mental Health
There is considerable concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health – both as a direct consequence of the disease, and due to the pandemic response e.g., lockdown, school closures, furlough, inadequate housing and economic insecurity. Research is ongoing to understand the differential impact of the pandemic on the mental health of different population groups, including children and older people. Specifically, there is a need to understand the role that structural inequalities play in mental health and to ensure the appropriate social policy and health service responses are funded and implemented as the longer-term consequences unfold.
Agenda:
4:00 Welcome – Fiona Godlee
4:05 Looking to the future (Chair: George Davey Smith)
– Reimagining global mental health: Vikram Patel, Harvard University
4:15 Direct psychiatric and neurological effects of COVID-19 (Chair: Simon Wesseley)
– Post-infection: Paul Harrison, University of Oxford
– Post-hospitalisation: Hamish McAuley, University of Leicester
4:35: Indirect effects of COVID-19 on mental health (Chair: Becky Mars)
– Children and young people: Tamsin Ford, University of Cambridge/ Cathy Creswell, University of Oxford
– Longitudinal studies: Praveetha Patalay, UCL
– Suicide: Duleeka Knipe, University of Bristol
5:10 Key remaining unknowns (Chair: Ezra Susser)
– Impact on population mental health: Matthias Pierce, Manchester
– Impact in LMICs: Lola Kola, University of Ibadan
– Domestic abuse: Vishal Bhavsar, KCL
– Homelessness: Kelly Doran, NYU (pre-recorded)
5:45 Discussion (Chair: Phil Hammond)
6:15 Close
