Living Document I: Belgian mental health (care) data repository update 2

Covid-19 has had a big impact on many aspects of our life, including mental health. Since the start of the pandemic, a whole body of Belgian research has been performed on the relation between covid-19 and mental health (care). The mental health & covid-19 working group of the superior health council lists these studies in order to provide advice to policy makers and the general public.

The first advisory report focused on international literature on contagious outbreaks, since not many studies on covid-19 and, especially, not many Belgian studies were published yet. This advice can be found here: https://www.health.belgium.be/en/report-9589-mental-health-and-covid-19

As part of the work performed in the first advisory report, the Policy Coordination Working group has asked the Superior Health Council to list all Belgian studies investigating the relation between covid-19 and mental health and/or mental health care and to provide regular updates. The superior Health Council, therefore, started the project of the Belgian mental health data repository. This repository will consist of ongoing studies, preliminary results, accepted and published articles with a Belgian population. For each study, an overview will be given of the authors (including contact details), status (ongoing, published,..),  different methodological factors used in the study (e.g. type of population, type of data collection, …) and a short description of the study.

The Belgian Mental Health Data Repository will allow for other researchers, policy makers, health care providers and the general public to have a better idea of and easier access to the mental health studies in Belgium. Additionally, more in-depth analyses across studies can be facilitated leading to better insights into the impact of covid-19 on mental health. An update of the living document will be published weekly. Below the second update of the living document can be found.