Opinion: Empower primary care with adequate payments and technology
Nina, the mother of an autistic teenager, had never experienced a panic attack until Covid-19 closed her son’s school in March 2020. Then they began coming with alarming regularity. Single parenting a disoriented child she couldn’t leave unattended meant she had to quit her job and was homebound, with no one to help with necessities like food shopping.
In desperation, Nina (not her real name) called a local clinic, and was lucky to find one with a corps of clinicians, counselors, and social workers using a model of primary care that integrates services to support physical, mental, and social well-being. They rapidly assessed her and her home situation via telehealth, explained and normalized her symptoms, prescribed medication, and gave a warm hand-off to mental health counselors. They also arranged deliveries from community food banks and helped her apply for unemployment benefits. The clinic became her lifeline, giving Nina and her son life-saving physical, mental, and social support through a year of isolation until schools reopened.
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