A “Mental Health PPE” model of proactive mental health support for frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

We summarize in this article the development, roll out, and preliminary outcomes of a large-scale proactive mental health support model for frontline healthcare workers during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically during New York City's initial case surge in March through June of 2020. This paper summarizes the program design and output for two types of dedicated teams of behavioral health clinicians: 1) Mental Health Liaisons, who provided preventative support to COVID-19 hospital units and Emergency Departments, and 2) Mental Health Crisis Response Teams, who staffed 24/7 crisis response lines to support and mitigate staff crises as needed. In addition to the specifics of this model, we discuss the strategies, rewards, and difficulties of rapidly staging and evaluating such a model in the context of an ongoing disaster situation. We also offer recommendations for how this multi-dimensional model may be replicated in other settings.