Impact of COVID on Mental Health

Reminder: You NEED to watch the entire video before you take the quiz. This is REQUIRED for your Continuing Education Units to be accepted by the Certification Board.

Addressing the three main populations that may be struggling with mental health struggles due to Covid. These populations include children, parents, and providers. How do we as providers screen, identify, and treat the mental health issues that are arising?

Children: Identifying the different developmental stages and increasing screening as children begin to return to in-person learning to address problems right away. It is important to identify the resiliency in children that are going through so many changes during this pandemic. Also, identifying ways to increase resiliency in children that may be experiencing a variety of changes at home, in school, and in their social environments.

Educators: How do educators prepare and plan ahead for the setbacks that many children will face when returning to school? Children with developmental disabilities lost their structure and access to services in many cases; therefore teachers have to be prepared to make a wide variety of accommodations. This burden can be overwhelming as there are no previous resources and guidance. Will teachers have to be more flexible with their expectations of students? How do teachers modify the curriculum to account for the struggles and advancements that students have faced over the last 12 months? How do we proceed with providing treatment with families having differing views on in-person vs. telehealth services?

Parents: Have taken on the burden of juggling work, parenting, educator, and in many cases therapist for their child if they are receiving services such as ABA through telehealth. Parents also may use teaching techniques that focus on one subject over the other, thereby creating an imbalance in the education a child is receiving. This burden can be overwhelming for parents since they are balancing everything and trying to understand the “new normal” we are living in. Senior Citizens: Understanding how Covid has affected them. This includes their lack of access to family

Downloadable tools:

• Impact of Covid: Separation Problems and Anxiety in the Age of Pandemics Article
• Impact of Covid: A Model of Distance Special Education Support Services Amid COVID-19 Article
• Impact of Covid: A Behavioral Tool for Parent Well-Being
• Impact of Covid: An Essential Service Decision Model Article
• Impact of Covid: References