Telemedicine ’ s Role in Mental Health Services
By Cory Carr & Eric Limegrover , Ph . D .
It is normal and understandable that people are experiencing fear , worry and stress in the context of the coronavirus pandemic . Faced with new realities of working from home , temporary unemployment , home-schooling of children and lack of physical contact with other family members , friends and colleagues , it is important to look after mental health . Experts have already seen the signs of a mental health crisis arising from the pandemic on a global scale .
“ Good mental health is absolutely fundamental to overall health and well-being ,” says Dr . Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus , directorgeneral of the World Health Organization ( WHO ).
WHO surveyed 130 countries to identify the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health services . The survey found that COVID-19 had interrupted essential mental health services around the world just when they were needed most . In addition , the survey evaluated how the provision of mental , neurological and substance use services has changed due to COVID-19 and the types of services that have been disrupted . More than 60 % of the reported disruptions involved mental health services for vulnerable people , including children and adolescents , older adults and women requiring antenatal or postnatal services .
In West Virginia , these trends are being felt in local communities . Between January and November 2020 , the Westbrook Health Services crisis team provided 700 more client interactions when compared to the same date range the previous year . According to Seneca Health Services , similar increases in community needs have been reported by counterparts across the state .
The most effective tool Westbrook has found for providing services during the COVID-19 pandemic is the utilization of telehealth services . This practice has allowed the company to protect its clients and its workforce while still providing the services needed to maintain continuity of care . Between January and November 2020 , Westbrook provided 15,557 services via telehealth , constituting a 260 % increase in the utilization of telehealth over the same date range in 2019 .
This technology does not only have to be utilized for the provision of traditional services . Westbrook has successfully allowed video visitation for its residential populations while face-to-face visits have not been possible , and its substance use residential , mental health residential and intellectual / developmental disability populations have all been able to talk with and see the faces of their loved ones , adding to the treatment of the whole person .
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