@article{ref1,
title="Policies to improve the mental health of people influenced by COVID-19 in China: a  scoping review",
journal="Frontiers in psychiatry",
year="2020",
author="Qiu, Dan and Li, Yilu and Li, Ling and He, Jun and Ouyang, Feiyun and Xiao, Shuiyuan",
volume="11",
number="",
pages="e588137-e588137",
abstract="BACKGROUND: In response to the potentially concurrent mental health crisis due to  the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been ongoing mental health policies put in place  in China. This review aims to systematically synthesize the implemented  national-level mental health policies released by the Chinese government during the  COVID-19 outbreak, and summarize the implementation of those mental health policies. <br><br>METHODS: Six databases and two websites were systematically searched, including  published studies and gray literature published between December 1, 2019 and October  29, 2020. <br><br>RESULTS: A total of 40 studies were included. Among them, 19 were  national-level policies on mental health released by the Chinese government, and 21  studies reported data on the implementation of those mental health policies. Mental  health policies were issued for COVID-19 patients, suspected cases, medical staff,  the general population, patients with mental illness, and mental institutions. In  the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic, attention was paid to psychological crisis  intervention. In the later stage of the epidemic, the government focused mainly on  psychological rehabilitation. During the COVID-19 outbreak, more than 500  psychiatrists from all over China were sent to Wuhan, about 625 hotlines were  notified in 31 provinces, several online psychological consultation platforms were  established, social software such as TikTok, Weibo, and WeChat were used for  psychological education, and many books on mental health were published. Responding  quickly, maximizing the use of resources, and emphasizing the importance of policy  evaluation and implementation quality were characteristics of the mental health  policies developed during the COVID-19 outbreak. Challenges facing China include a  low rate of mental health service utilization, a lack of evaluation data on policy  effects, and no existing national-level emergency response system and designated  workforce to provide psychological crisis interventions during a national emergency  or disaster. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This review suggests that China has responded quickly and  comprehensively to a possible mental health crisis during the COVID-19 outbreak,  appropriate mental health policies were released for different members of the  population. As the epidemic situation continues to change, the focus of mental  health policies has been adjusted accordingly. However, we should note that there  has been a lack of separate policies for specific mental health issues during the  COVID-19 outbreak.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-0640",
doi="10.3389/fpsyt.2020.588137",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.588137"
}