Summary of the legislation
Notably, the legislation, known as S. 610 and HR 1667, aims to reduce and prevent suicide, burnout, and mental/behavioral health conditions among healthcare professionals. Moreover, the legislation can also be called Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act because “Dr. Breen made headlines after her tragic death during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
According to Congress (n.d.), the legislation creates funds and demands various actions to enhance mental and behavioral health and avoid exhaustion among healthcare personnel. It is important to note that the Department of Health and Human Services briefly HHS, should specifically give funding to educate healthcare workers on suicide awareness, other mental health concerns, and well-being measures (Congress, n.d.). In addition, initiatives to improve psychological and cognitive health among clinicians working in COVID-19 response activities must be established or expanded.
Consequently, HHS should conduct research and provide policy recommendations to reduce burnout and enhance mental and behavioral health among healthcare professionals, remove obstacles to care and treatment, and develop resiliency techniques. Essentially, the S.610 and HR 1667 legislation was unanimously enacted by the United States Senate on August 6, 2021, and by the House of Representatives on December 8, 2021 (Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, n.d.). Based on GovTrack (2021), the bill has 166 cosponsors, one hundred sixty-six Democrats and thirty Republicans, along with the legislation’s sponsor. The legislation’s principles were integrated into other adopted legislation; therefore, there will most likely be no more action on it (GovTrack, 2021). Nonetheless, other activity on another bill with the same or similar features may have happened.
Strengths and Weaknesses
COVID-19 has only compounded the problem of excessive stress levels and burnout among healthcare personnel. Many healthcare practitioners are struggling with the trauma of losing patients and colleagues and are concerned for their health and safety while helping their patients battle for their survival (Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, n.d.). Therefore, the strength of the legislation is that it establishes a nationwide evidence-based education and awareness campaign aimed at healthcare workers in order to urge them to obtain help and treatment for mental and behavioral health issues.
Additionally, it provides thorough research on the emotional and behavioral health and exhaustion of healthcare personnel, including the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on their wellness. The only weakness or limitation is that the legislation would compel HHS to offer funds to train healthcare workers in suicide prevention strategies, mental health concerns, and well-being methods (Sullivan, 2021). Senator Kaine has been a pioneer in addressing the mental health impact of the pandemic on healthcare workers since initially presenting the bill in July 2020, and he has continued to encourage Congress to tackle this problem (Tim Kaine United States Senator from Virginia, 2021). Consequently, the American Rescue Plan Act and COVID relief legislation were signed into law in March 2021; some measures were patterned after the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act were financed (Tim Kaine United States Senator from Virginia, 2021). Nonetheless, the whole bill is required to authorize all of the programs in the legislation and offer more direction on how the money should be spent. Thus, the crucial legislation’s weakness is that there are no guidelines for spending resources.
The Impact of Legislation
The legislation impacts all stakeholders, providers, HHS, and consumers, namely healthcare personnel. The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act was named in honor of Dr. Lorna Breen, a physician from Charlottesville, Virginia. She was working on the frontlines of the pandemic in New York and died by suicide in the spring of 2020 (Tim Kaine United States Senator from Virginia, 2021). Hence, the legislation is a critical step toward addressing mental problems healthcare providers face during COVID-19. Senator Kaine stated that the epidemic had taken a catastrophic burden on the nation’s healthcare professionals’ psychological health (Tim Kaine United States Senator from Virginia, 2021). By offering them the mental health care they require, this legislation will help to avoid burnout and suicide among the nation’s healthcare professionals. The Act requires providers to report to Congress on enhancing healthcare professionals’ mental health and resiliency and the outcomes of grant programs within three years (United States Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, 2021). The report will demonstrate variables that lead to poor mental health, barriers to obtaining treatment, the effects of COVID-19, elements that encourage resiliency, and the effectiveness of education and training programs.
The impact on providers is that they must develop grants for health profession schools, academic health centers, or other institutions to help train health professionals in suicide, stress, and mental health issues prevention techniques. Furthermore, providers must discover and share evidence-based best practices for reducing and eliminating suicide and burnout in healthcare professionals. Thus, healthcare providers and professional organizations will receive funding for awareness and education, peer-support training, and mental and behavioral health rehabilitation. Ultimately, providers should perform comprehensive research on the emotional and behavioral health and burnout of healthcare workers, including the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on their health.
Moreover, the impact on consumers is considerable because healthcare professionals will receive support, training, and education to better focus on their well-being and job satisfaction. Søvold et al. (2021) argue that in recent years, the mental health requirements of healthcare personnel have gained prominence as a serious public health issue and a danger to effective treatment implementation. With the development of the coronavirus illness pandemic, health systems have been overloaded and strained to their limits while struggling to continue providing excellent treatment (Søvold et al., 2021). Healthcare workers are subjected to various stressors at work, which can severely impact their physiological, cognitive, and psychological health.
For instance, excessive work, long shifts, a lack of physical or psychological safety, chronicity of care, moral dilemmas, workplace-related bullying, or a lack of social support are all variables that contribute to higher stress among healthcare professionals. Stress, anxiety, mood disorders, sleeping difficulties, and other ailments might result from associated psychological discomfort (Søvold et al., 2021). Working in a demanding or challenging situation for an extended length of time with minimal recuperation time is a risk factor for burnout. Many healthcare practitioners have suffered moral trauma (Søvold et al., 2021). As a result of the severe stress, individuals were more likely to regard themselves negatively, doubt their choices, and suffer emotions of guilt. These negative ideas may lead to mental health difficulties such as depression, suicide ideation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Therefore, workplace stress can have a detrimental influence on the professionalism, quality of service delivery, and efficiency of healthcare personnel. To conclude, the Act encourages consumers to seek help and treatment for mental and behavioral health issues.
References
Congress. (n.d.). H.R.1667 – Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. Congress. Web.
Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. (n.d.). The legislation. Dr. Lorna Breen Foundation. Web.
GovTrack. (2021). H.R. 1667 — 117th Congress: Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. GovTrack. Web.
Søvold, L. E., Naslund, J. A., Kousoulis, A. A., Saxena, S., Qoronfleh, M. W., Grobler, C., & Münter, L. (2021). Prioritizing the mental health and well-being of healthcare workers: An urgent global public health priority. Frontiers in Public Health, 9. Web.
Sullivan, T. (2021). Senate passes legislation on mental health for health care professionals.Policymed. Web.
Tim Kaine United States Senator from Virginia. (2021). Kaine applauds House’s passage of his bipartisan bill to promote healthcare provider mental health. Tim Kaine. Web.
United States Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. (2021). Energy and Commerce Committee approves the bipartisan Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, co-led by Congressman Krishnamoorthi. Krishnamoorthi. Web.