COVID-19 has disproportionately affected long-term care facilities (LTCFs), where the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among residents is relatively high. Confined conditions in large psychiatric hospitals were associated with cluster of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Additionally, an alarming delay in providing personal protective equipment, and testing kits for these patients, was registered in some countries. Main organizational challenges occurred in psychiatric residential facilities focused on rehabilitation, where patients were confined with very limited or no leave, and severe visitor restrictions. It has been suggested that COVID-19 has the potential to put community-based approaches forward for people suffering from mental health disorders, as an alternative to the usual residential setting.

The goal of this Research Topic is to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the residents of psychiatric facilities, and to collect information on the mental health care pathways adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Research Topic will gather a comprehensive body of research on the current condition of the patients with mental health disorders living in psychiatric long-term or residential facilities. It will investigate their mental health, physical health and quality of life in those settings. Is psychiatric rehabilitation still ongoing in the present scenario? What innovative forms of integrated home-based assistance were implemented in response to the COVID-19 emergency? If adopted, what was the result of these interventions?

We are interested in original articles and reviews addressing the following issues:

• Impact of the pandemic on the mental and physical health of the patients/ residents in long term facilities
• Quality of life in psychiatric residential and long-term care facilities during COVID-19
• Response to COVID-19 in the forensic psychiatric setting
• Psychiatric rehabilitation trajectories during the COVID-19
• Community based care pathway for patients with severe mental disorders in response to COVID-19 emergency
• Personalised and socially inclusive home-based therapeutic rehabilitation care programmes for patients with severe mental disorders during COVID-19
• Outcome of supported housing experiences during COVID-19

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Frontiers in Psychiatry

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