Role of Telemental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Early Review

Context: The demand for remote psychologist services increased during the COVID-19 outbreak due to the emergence of multiple mental health problems. Many countries have applied telemental health approaches to managing and treating mental disorders. This review study aimed to investigate the role of information technology, especially telemental health, in managing psychological problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence Acquisition: This study was conducted in four phases: Identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. Keywords were selected from MeSH to search the principal medical databases. Finally, important information was extracted from nine selected papers, including the author names, study setting, purpose, technology, method, intervention, and results. Results: Some studies provided telepsychiatry to people whose mental problems developed during COVID-19. Another study explained the telepsychological service for patients with mental illness before the epidemic. Most articles signified the influential role of telehealth in screening and reducing social contacts. Besides, this technology played a significant role in providing mental health services. Conclusions: The study showed that telemental health and telepsychiatry approaches effectively promote the mental health and well-being of participants with various mental problems. In implementing these approaches, some items such as allocating suffi- cient funds, preparing appropriate infrastructure, providing training for users, defining suitable evaluation methods, and considering confidentiality and privacy need to be considered. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Iranian Journal of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences is the property of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

A framework for information technology-based management against COVID-19 in Iran.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has become a global concern. Iran is one of the countries affected most by the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. As a result, the use of information technology (IT) has a variety of applications for pandemic management. The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual framework for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic via IT management, based on extensive literature review and expert knowledge. METHODS: The conceptual framework is developed in three stages: (1) a literature review to gather practical experience with IT applications for managing the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) a study of Iranian documents and papers that present Iran's practical experience with COVID-19, and (3) developing a conceptual framework based on the previous steps and validating it through a Delphi approach in two rounds, and by 13 experts. RESULTS: The proposed conceptual framework demonstrates that during pandemics, 22 different types of technologies were used for various purposes, including virtual education, early warning, rapid screening and diagnosis of infected individuals, and data management. These objectives were classified into six categories, with the following applications highlighted: (1) Prevention (M-health, Internet search queries, telehealth, robotics, Internet of things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data, Virtual Reality (VR), social media); (2) Diagnosis (M-health, drones, telehealth, IoT, Robotics, AI, Decision Support System (DSS), Electronic Health Record (EHR)); (3) Treatment (Telehealth, M-health, AI, Robotic, VR, IoT); (4) Follow-up (Telehealth, M-health, VR), (5) Management & planning (Geographic information system, M-health, IoT, blockchain), and (6) Protection (IoT, AI, Robotic and automatic vehicles, Augmented Reality (AR)). In Iran, the use of IT for prevention has been emphasized through M-health, internet search queries, social media, video conferencing, management and planning objectives using databases, health information systems, dashboards, surveillance systems, and vaccine coverage. CONCLUSIONS: IT capabilities were critical during the COVID-19 outbreak. Practical experience demonstrates that various aspects of information technologies were overlooked. To combat this pandemic, the government and decision-makers of this country should consider strategic planning that incorporates successful experiences against COVID-19 and the most advanced IT capabilities.

Telerehabilitation and Monitoring Physical Activity in Patient with Breast Cancer: Systematic Review.

Background: Timely rehabilitation in patients with Breast Cancer (BC) has a great impact on improving their physical and mental conditions. Thus, the appropriate follow-up method is essential especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to review the different technology-assisted interventions for improving physical activity in BC patients. Materials And Methods: In this systematic review, the original studies were extracted from the beginning of indexing in databases including PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science until 2019. Finally, 45 papers were included in this study based on the inclusion criteria for before the Covid-19 pandemic and 3 articles extracted for the Covid-19 period. Results: The most widely used technologies for BC patients were in the United States (46.67%). Telephone, mobile application, and web with 28.89%, 15.56%, and 8.89% frequencies were the most common technologies, respectively. Although the majority of the participants were satisfied with the intervention method, in some cases, the patients were unsatisfied due to the complexity of the technology. These technologies were used for various purposes, such as physical activity and functions, control of pain severity, fitness, quality of life, diet behavior, fatigue, muscle strength, cardio-respiratory capacity, as well as arm and shoulder exercises. Conclusions: In conclusion, virtual communication can improve the health of BC patients and also increases patients' desire and hope to continue treatment. It is worth noting that in the Covid-19 pandemic, with the strengthening of virtual communication infrastructure, more attention was paid to BC patients due to their sensitive conditions.

E-health roadmap for COVID-19 vaccine coverage in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Vaccination is the effective and long-term pharmacological solution to deal with COVID-19. Information technology (IT) and electronic immunization can be effective in accelerating and improving vaccine coverage. The aim of this paper is to develop multi-dimensional framework of e-health roadmap to response Covod-19 pandemic and examine the role of IT for improving vaccine distribution in Iran. METHODS: The study methodology was based on a two-stage Delphi method which included literature studies at the beginning. Key steps in creating a roadmap in this study include definition, development and evaluation. The initial conceptual model was developed after literature review. Proposed roadmap was reviewed and evaluated in two stages based on the Delphi method by experts in the fields of E-health. RESULTS: In the e-health roadmap model, 14 stages of vaccine distribution were presented in three phases of vaccination and then were determined the type of technology in each phase. The 4 conceptual models were approved based on the two stages Delphi approach in a survey of 14 e-health experts. In the second phase of the Delphi process, the selected items were sent back to the specialists to verification. Then e-health roadmap was confirmed by experts and was finalized the approved model. CONCLUSIONS: The technology-based roadmap is one plan in the form of a transfer strategy that aligns goals with specific technical solutions and helps to meet them. This roadmap empowers decision makers to decide on alternative paths and achieve goals.

COVID-19 & an NGO and university developed interactive portal: a perspective from Iran.

On 19 February 2020, Iran reported the initial cases of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). As of 21 March 2020, Iran had reported 175,927 COVID-19 cases, including 8425 deaths. One of the best approaches for responding to COVID-19 is rapid detection, early isolation, and quick treatment of the disease. Studies have stated that information technology (IT) is a powerful tool for detecting, tracking, and responding to pandemic diseases. Despite the importance of IT, a lack of efficient use of information technology capacity was observed after the emergence of the new cases of COVID-19 in Iran. A web-portal can integrate different services and technologies and can support interaction between non-governmental organizations (NGO) and universities. NGOs can provide services for public health utilizing technology and its advancements. One of the important duties of these organizations is to inform and provide integrated services to the general public. An interactive portal is one of the advanced technologies that these organizations can use for health management. Medical sciences of universities play a vital surveillance role for enhancing the performance quality of NGOs. A web-portal can be a collaboration tool between health-related NGOs and medical sciences of universities. In this study, an interactive portal was developed by NGOs and a university. NGOs under the supervision and participation of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences' Center for Social Factors Research in COVID-19 management division of this portal separated classified information into two sections, informatics and services. This portal is accessible to the general public, patients, service providers, and, importantly, policymakers and presents educational and medical research information to all users. For patients and the general public in high-risk environments, increasing information security, reducing confusion regarding finding needed information, and facilitating communication are only part of the portal's benefit. It seems that web-portal capacity is needed to control COVID-19 in the digital age. The collaboration of academic and university bodies in the context of health portals can play key roles for coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.