Register for a FREE Webinar.

The Delaware Psychological Association is here to provide outreach, emotional support, group and individual therapy sessions, and public education.  We can offer virtual and on-site training opportunities if there is an expressed need for training and education on mental health and disaster response, coping skills, warning signs, and stress management.

To this end, we have volunteers available to provide these supportive services.  We also have several webinars planned that may be of interest to you or someone you know. 

If you have questions about our volunteer program, please feel free to contact us at 302-635-0311 or by email.

https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide

Coronavirus Sanity Guide

In times like these, we need practical, actionable ways of coping with stress, fear, and anxiety. The meditations, podcasts, blog posts, and talks on this page will help you build resilience and find some calm amidst the chaos. We’re adding more resources as they're created - so keep checking back. 

https://www.ptsd.va.gov/appvid/mobile/COVID_coach_app.asp

Coronavirus-Anxiety-Workbook.pdf

These are challenging times with many Delawareans experiencing fear and anxiety about their health of themselves and their loved ones along with financial stress and uncertainty. The Delaware Psychological Association has resources available on their website to support mental health as well as information about psychologists who are taking new clients, including services delivered through video conferencing. As we focus on our physical health we also need to make our mental health a priority. Here are a few suggestions:

1.    Keep a routine. It doesn’t need to be rigidly followed, but have some type of routine that includes regular times to sleep, eat and exercise.

2.    Get things done around the house, but only if it feels good to do so. Try not to put pressure on yourself to accomplish a great deal, but notice if it helps to feel that you are getting things done. Try to balance getting things done with time doing things just for pleasure. 

3.    Spend time outdoors on a regular basis.

4.    Reach out to others on a daily basis though phone calls or video chats. Think of creative ways that you can spend time with people virtually such as eating meals, watching movies, playing games or listening to music. 

5.    Limit exposure to the news and social media if you notice it is having a negative impact on your mental health. 

6.    Come up with a resiliency plan that incorporates some of these ideas and make changes to it as needed. 

• Crisis and Mental Health Resources

• NAMI Delaware Website and Helpline (888-427-2643, select 1 for Helpline; https://www.namidelaware.org/covid19-resources)
• Delaware Crisis Intervention and Mobile Crisis Hotlines (https://www.dhss.delaware.gov/dsamh/crisis_intervention.html)
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline (800-273-8255; https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/)

• Coping with COVID-19

• Psychology Tools (https://www.psychologytools.com/psychological-resources-for-coronavirus-covid-19/)
• Psychology Tools: Guide to Living with Worry and Anxiety Amidst Global Uncertainty (https://www.psychologytools.com/assets/covid-19/guide_to_living_with_worry_and_anxiety_amidst_global_uncertainty_en-us.pdf)
• American Psychological Association: Five Ways to View Coverage of the Coronavirus (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/pandemics)
• Dr. Shelley Mackaman/Washington Psychological Association: Survival Tips from Ground Zero (https://www.wspapsych.org/docs/Survival_Tips_from_Ground_Zero1.pdf)
• American Psychological Association Help Center (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/)
• International OCD Foundation: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and COVID-19 (https://iocdf.org/covid19/)
• Free workbook for anxiety related to Covid 19 (https://thewellnesssociety.org/free-coronavirus-anxiety-workbook/)

• Discrimination and Stigma

• Washington State Department of Health: https://www.doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/NovelCoronavirusOutbreak2020COVID19/StigmaReduction
• CDC: Reducing Stigma (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/reducing-stigma.html)
• Unicef Voices of Youth: COVID-19: Your Voices Against Stigma and Discrimination (https://www.voicesofyouth.org/covid-19-your-voices-against-stigma-and-discrimination)
• US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: What You Should Know About the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and COVID-19 (https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/wysk_ada_rehabilitaion_act_coronavirus.cfm)

• Talking to Children and Adolescents about COVID-19

• Nemours: Coronavirus: How to Talk to Kids (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-VMJIP6jJo)
• American Psychological Association: How to Talk to Children about Difficult News (https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/talking-to-children)
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network Guides (English, Spanish, and Chinese; https://www.nctsn.org/what-is-child-trauma/trauma-types/disasters/pandemic-resources)
• NPR: A Comic Exploring the New Coronavirus (https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/02/28/809580453/just-for-kids-a-comic-exploring-the-new-coronavirus)
• New York Times: Quaranteenagers: Strategies for Parenting in Close Quarters (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/well/family/coronavirus-covid-teenagers-teens-parents-kids-family-advice.html)
• Muson Heathcare: Explaining Social Distancing to Kids (https://www.munsonhealthcare.org/blog/explaining-social-distancing-to-kids)

DPA Statement on COVID-19.pdf

Insurer Resources for COVID-19 and Telehealth

As multiple, necessary strategies are employed to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth is growing in importance as a scalable tool that can help to increase access to medical care, and to ensure the safety of the healthcare workforce, as well as protect at-risk patients.  More hospitals and healthcare providers are offering telemedicine as an alternative to in person visits.  

With the upsweep in demand for health care related to the virus, and the urgent need to quell the spread of the disease, the insurance industry/payors are modifying policies around telehealth ─ including policies that address utilization, cost, and reimbursement.  As such DCHI’s Payment Workgroup is providing quick links to the respective payor websites dedicated to COVID-19 and telehealth.

Thank you for all that you are doing to keep Delaware safe and healthy!

Aetna

COVID-19 Related Links: 

• Aetna Individual Families: COVID-19 Telemedicine
• Aetna Individual Families - What You Need To Know About Coronavirus
• Aetna Health Care Professionals : Provider Education Manuals - COVID FAQ

AmeriHealth Caritas

COVID-19 Related Links: 

• AmeriHealth: Telehealth Services - FAQs

Cigna

COVID-19 Related Links:

• Cigna's Response to COVID-19
• Cigna News Release: Cigna Waives Customer Cost Sharing for COVID-19 Treatment

Highmark BCBS

COVID-19 Related Links:

• Highmark BCBS: What You Need To Know About Coronavirus
• Highmark BCBS: Telemedicine and Virtual Visits

Highmark Health Options

COVID-19 Related Links:

• Highmark Health Options: Coronavirus: Resources and Information for Highmark Health Option Members
• Highmark Health Options: COVID-19 - Provider Resources

United Healthcare

COVID-19 Related Links:

• United Healthcare: Health Topics - COVID-19
• United Healthcare: Telehealth Options

A revolution has silently occurred for the provision of MH/SA services. We are essential personnel! We are routinely doing telehealth along with family doctors, physician specialists, and psychiatrists. We are able to help people who may have difficulty getting to our office. Hopefully this will help CMS, insurance companies and legislators see the necessity of treating us with the same value as those other doctoral level providers in the physician definition. The need for our services to deal with the stress, anxiety and isolation of life during a pandemic and its aftermath will only increase.  I will leave you with a link that helps you understand how much advocacy APA has done to offer guidance that helps our patients, in the interpretation of a bill translated to law, which impacts the regulation of our practice. Your input into the process, regardless of the legislation, is often necessary at many points along the way, whether it is to urge sponsorship, or to push for specific regulatory interpretations. Please consider responding when asked. It is important. Let us not loose the momentum of modernizing our practices due to necessity the pandemic has created.  

Here is the link of all the things we can now do, which begs the question of why this should be time limited:

https://www.apaservices.org/practice/reimbursement/government/medicare-telehealth-temporary-changes

Take care of yourselves during this pandemic so that you can continue to help you families, friends, colleagues and clients make it through these challenging times.

Barbara Giardina, Ph.D.

https://www.apaservices.org/practice/clinic/covid-19-informed-consent

Sample informed consent form for resuming in-person services

Psychologists transitioning back to face-to-face services may wish to protect their practice through informed consent.

APA has created a sample informed consent form (DOC, 25KB) for psychologists who are returning to the office to provide face-to-face services with the lifting of “stay at home” restrictions. (Please see our article on important factors to consider before reopening your office for more information.)

This document contains important safety considerations to help minimize exposure to the coronavirus, including guidance published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of possible actions nor is it meant to encourage psychologists to resume face-to-face services before they feel comfortable doing so.

Since the state and local health authorities where you practice may have published additional guidance, you are encouraged to modify this template to fit the specific requirements of your community as well as to the needs of your practice and patients.

This document is designed to be used in addition to your normal informed consent and business practices form — not as a substitute. You should use your normal informed consent form with clients before initiating services to cover important information (e.g. your fees, billing and collection practices, limits to confidentiality) and use this template as an addendum when patients are returning to (or starting) in-person services.

You may also wish to consult with your malpractice insurer for additional content they may recommend.

Disclaimer: We prepared this document to provide information to psychologists in this rapidly changing landscape. Because the law, regulations, and related information continually change, you are encouraged to monitor local, state and federal officials and update this form as necessary to stay in compliance with their guidance. Please note the date stamp on this form. Please note this document does not constitute legal advice, as APA and APA Services do not and cannot provide legal advice to our members or state associations. The information in this form should not be used as a substitute for obtaining advice from an attorney in your state.

HHS Extends Deadline for Attestation, Acceptance of Terms and Conditions for Provider Relief Fund Payments to 45 Days 

The Department of Health and Human Services has extended the deadline for healthcare providers to attest to receipt of payments from the Provider Relief Fund and accept the Terms and Conditions. Providers will now have 45 days, increased from 30 days, from the date they receive a payment to attest and accept the Terms and Conditions or return the funds. As an example, the initial 30-day deadline for providers who received payment on April 10, 2020, is extended to May 24 from May 9, 2020. With the extension, not returning the payment within 45 days of receipt of payment will be viewed as acceptance of the Terms and Conditions. 

President Trump is providing support to healthcare providers fighting the COVID-19 pandemic through the bipartisan CARES Act and Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act which provide $175 billion in relief funds to hospitals and other healthcare providers on the front lines of the coronavirus response. This funding will be used to support healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19 and to ensure uninsured Americans can get treatment for COVID-19.

In allocating the funds, the Administration is working, among other things, to address both the economic harm across the entire healthcare system due to the stoppage of elective procedures, and addressing the economic impact on providers particularly impacted by COVID-19, and to do so as quickly and transparently as possible.

Visit hhs.gov/providerrelief for more information on the allocations. Recipients of payments from any of these allocations must attest and accept the Terms and Conditions within 45 days.

• HHS is distributing $50 billion across the healthcare system to providers and facilities that bill Medicare.
• Recognizing the financial strain from COVID-19 inpatient admissions, HHS is distributing $12 billion to hospitals that reported at least 100 COVID-19 inpatient admissions through April 10 to HHS.
• HHS is distributing $10 billion to rural hospitals and clinics.
• HHS is distributing $400 million to tribal healthcare providers.
• HHS is using a portion of the Provider Relief Fund to reimburse healthcare providers, at Medicare rates, for COVID-related treatment of the uninsured.
• HHS is working to provide relief to additional healthcare providers including skilled nursing facilities, dentists, and other providers significantly impacted by COVID-19.