Mitigating the Economic and Mental Health Impacts of Covid-19

Covid-19 and the associated lockdowns have had severe negative impacts on earnings among the poor, who have limited savings available to navigate the crisis. The resulting stress and anxiety, along with health concerns and social isolation due to physical distancing, have produced a severe mental health crisis. In turn, poor mental health may reduce people’s ability to protect their health, take up government services, and eventually to recover economically. Partnering with SCARF India, a leading mental health organization, the researchers tested two interventions designed to boost mental health and economic resilience among low-income households in India: a phone-delivered Psychological First Aid program and temporary cash support. The researchers measured whether these interventions can improve mental health and economic wellbeing. They additionally measured other related behaviours, such as propensity to engage in preventive health behaviours as well as the incidence of intra-household conflict and violence, which can impact the health of children in the household.