What's this project about?

Reports have indicated that caregivers and families of autistic people have experienced considerable stress as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

How did we go about doing this project?

We conducted a rapid synthesis of the literature to help us understand what has been documented regarding the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health well-being of caregivers and families of autistic people, and to identify supportive mental health and well-being programs that have emerged as a result.

What did we do with our research findings?

An initial report was submitted to CIHR in June 2020. Working with our multidisciplinary team to create and tailor accessible products to communicate our findings to the autism community (i.e., blog posts, podcasts, videos, infographics, etc.).

Results

Lee, V., Albaum, C., Tablon Modica, P., Ahmad, F., Gorter, J. W., Khanlou, N., McMorris, C., Lai, J., Harrison, C., Hedley, T., Johnston, P., Putterman, C., Spoelstra, M., & Weiss, J. A. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of caregivers of autistic children and youth: A Scoping review. Autism Research. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2616

Lee, V., Albaum, C., Tablon Modica, P., Ahmad, F., Gorter, J. W., Khanlou, N., McMorris, C., Lai, J., Harrison, C., Hedley, T., Johnston, P., Putterman, C., Spoelstra, M., & Weiss, J. A. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on the mental health and wellbeing of caregivers and families of autistic people: A rapid synthesis review. Report prepared for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. https://covid19mentalhealthresearch.ca/synthesis/impact-of-covid-19-on-the-mental-health-and-well-being-of-caregivers-and-families-of-autistic-people/

Infographic

Impact of COVID-19 Infographic Download

Want to know more about this project?

Please email Dr. Jonathan Weiss at jonweis s @yorku.ca, if you have any questions.

This project is funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research.