Treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction of a virtual partial hospital program: A mixed-method study.

OBJECTIVE: Despite a proliferation of virtual partial hospital programs (PHP) during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a dearth of research on such programs. In the current study, we compared treatment outcomes and patient satisfaction between an in-person and a virtual PHP. Further, we examined patients' qualitative feedback about the virtual PHP. METHOD: Participants included 282 patients attending a virtual PHP during the COVID-19 pandemic and 470 patients attending an in-person PHP one year prior. Patients completed daily measures of symptom severity, and post-treatment measures of patient satisfaction and treatment outcomes. Patients in the virtual PHP provided feedback about virtual care. Quantitative data were analyzed using multilevel modeling, and qualitative data were analyzed using the principles of inductive analysis. RESULTS: Patients experienced a reduction in depression (b = -.28, p < .001) and anxiety symptoms (b = -.25, p < .001) over time and reported high satisfaction in both the in-person and virtual PHPs. There were no significant differences across programs. Virtual PHP patients identified unique advantages and disadvantages of virtual care. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that virtual PHPs should be explored as an ongoing model of care that may help to systematically reduce barriers to accessing mental health services.

How is the COVID-19 pandemic affecting individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms?

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has caused substantial public health burden and widespread anxiety. The adverse mental health effects caused by COVID-19 may be particularly acute for individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). For the present study, we developed an online survey to investigate how COVID-19 has affected the OCD community. The survey included both quantitative and qualitative questions to assess multiple facets of how the pandemic has affected individuals with OCD symptoms. Responses were collected from adults with self-identified OCD recruited from OCD-specific forums and websites (n = 252). The majority (76.2 %) of respondents reported that their OCD symptoms had worsened since the outbreak, though there was substantial variability in individual responses. Negative effects of COVID-19 were more strongly linked to contamination and responsibility for harm symptoms than for other symptom dimensions. The self-identified OCD group also reported heightened concerns about COVID-19 compared to a community control sample recruited through Amazon's Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Lastly, many participants reported that the pandemic had interfered with their OCD treatment, yet they remained mostly satisfied with how their treatment providers had handled the crisis. These results highlight the importance of considering how COVID-19 has affected the OCD community, with possible implications for treatment providers.

Development of a virtual partial hospital program for an acute psychiatric population: Lessons learned and future directions for telepsychotherapy

Research suggests that individuals may benefit from participation in a partial hospital program (PHP) following discharge from inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. Indeed, PHPs are designed to facilitate further stabilization and skill-building before discharge to the community. As a result, our hospital-located in a large metropolitan area in the Northeastern United States-has long maintained a commitment to providing this critical level of care. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, these in-person PHP services were discontinued in response to public health recommendations and to ensure the safety and well-being of patients and staff. To maintain this important point along the psychiatric care continuum, hospital leadership encouraged our PHP team to pursue an alternative approach to treatment delivery: video-based telepsychotherapy. This article describes the development of a virtual PHP that serves acute psychiatric patients stepping down from inpatient hospitalization. First, we provide an overview of the original in-person PHP and then discuss the process of its transition to a virtual format. Next, we describe in detail the components of our newly developed virtual PHP, highlighting adaptations necessitated by patients and staff being remote from our physical hospital. Finally, we present preliminary evidence of our virtual PHP's acceptability and feasibility, based on experiences with our 23 patients to date;discuss lessons learned from this program development effort;and recommend future directions for research and clinical practice. Information provided herein aims to guide the development of other virtual PHPs and telepsychotherapy programs that similarly strive to offer intensive treatment to an acute psychiatric population.