To Use or Not to Use: Clinicians' Perceptions of Telemental Health
To Use or Not to Use: Clinicians' Perceptions of Telemental Health
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DOI：
10.1037/a0022275
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发表时间：
2011-02-01
影响因子：
4.6
通讯作者：
O'Donnell, Susan
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Simms, Deanne C.;Gibson, Kerri;O'Donnell, Susan
对于健康的个人和社区来说，平等获得心理健康服务是必要的。然而，由于地理距离和其他障碍，一些客户无法轻易接触到心理健康专业人员。用于临床目的的视频会议（即远程心理健康）等技术可能有助于弥合这些差距，将不同地理位置的客户和临床医生联系起来。然而，尽管远程心理健康具有潜在的实用性，但它在加拿大尚未得到广泛采用。这项研究是一项探索性调查，旨在调查心理健康专业人员对远程心理健康的态度、影响他们使用该技术频率的因素，以及他们对使客户或多或少适合远程心理健康的个人特征的看法。这项研究特别关注偏远和农村以及操作压力损伤 (OSI) 环境。加拿大各地的 160 名心理健康工作者参与了在线调查，加拿大各地操作压力伤害诊所的 25 名心理健康工作者参与了面对面访谈。使用定性和定量分析方法检查数据。调查结果表明，心理健康工作者对使用远程心理健康总体持积极态度，特别是对于偏远和农村地区的客户。此外，接受远程心理健康培训、在心理健康领域工作时间较长以及认为该技术易于使用与更频繁地使用远程心理健康有关。最后，临床医生报告了他们认为某些客户不适合远程心理健康的特定客户特征。讨论了这些发现的意义和未来研究的方向。
Equal access to mental health services is necessary for healthy individuals and communities. However, due to geographical distances and other barriers, some clients cannot easily access mental health professionals. Technologies such as videoconferencing for clinical purposes (i.e., telemental health) may help to bridge these gaps to connect clients and clinicians at geographically diverse locations. However, despite its potential utility, telemental health has not been widely adopted in Canada. This study is an exploratory investigation into mental health professionals' attitudes toward telemental health, factors that affect the frequency with which they use this technology, and their perceptions of individual characteristics that make clients more or less suitable candidates for telemental health. This study has a particular focus on remote and rural and Operational Stress Injury (OSI) contexts. One hundred sixty mental health workers across Canada participated in an online survey, and 25 mental health workers from Operational Stress Injury clinics across Canada participated in in-person interviews. The data were examined using qualitative and quantitative analysis methods. Findings suggest that mental health workers have overall positive attitudes toward the use of telemental health particularly for clients in remote and rural locations. Additionally, receiving training in telemental health, being in the mental health field for longer, and perceiving the technology as easy to use are associated with more frequent use of telemental health. Finally, clinicians reported specific client characteristics that they perceive to make some clients unsuitable candidates for telemental health. Implications of these findings and directions for future research are discussed.