Publication details

The Impact of COVID-19 on Access to Mental Health Care Services

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Authors

HARRELL Benjamin FUMARCO Luca BUTTON Patrick SCHWEGMAN David DENWOOD Kyla

Year of publication 2023
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source AEA Papers and Proceedings
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Economics and Administration

Citation
Web https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pandp.20231058
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/pandp.20231058
Keywords field experiments; health behavior; health: government policy - regulation - public health
Attached files
Description The COVID-19 pandemic increased the rate of mental health disorders, as well as demand for mental health services. It remains unclear, however, the extent to which it impacted access to mental health care. Using data from an audit field experiment, which ran from January to May 2020 and overlapped with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine the impact of COVID-19 on access to mental health care appointments in the United States. We find that increased intensity of COVID-19—measured by daily cases, daily fatalities, and weekly excess deaths—is associated with decreased access to mental health care appointments.
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