Your browser doesn't support javascript.
Remote mental health clients prefer face-to-face consultations to telehealth during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amos, Andrew James; Middleton, Jocelyn; Gardiner, Fergus W.
  • Amos AJ; Director of Training, Psychiatry for North Queensland, Townsville, QLD.
  • Middleton J; Manager, Mental Health and Wellbeing teams, Royal Flying Doctor Service, Cairns, QLD.
  • Gardiner FW; Director, Public Health and Research, Royal Flying Doctor Service, Federation, Canberra, ACT.
Australas Psychiatry ; 30(1): 18-22, 2022 02.
Article in English | MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1438215
ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE:

To guide the efficient and effective provision of mental health services to clients in Central West and Far North Queensland, we surveyed preferences for face-to-face or in-person contact.

METHODS:

A clinician-designed survey of contact preferences was offered to 248 clients of mental health services in Far North and Central West Queensland in mid-2020. With the onset of COVID-19, the survey was modified to measure the impact of the pandemic.

RESULTS:

Just over half of the services' clients participated in the survey (50.4%), of whom more were female (63.2%). Of the participants, 46.3% in Far North and 8.6% in Central West Queensland identified as Indigenous. Strong resistance to telehealth before the pandemic across groups (76%) was moderated during COVID-19 (42.4%), an effect that appeared likely to continue past the pandemic for Central West clients (34.5%). Far North clients indicated their telehealth reluctance would return after the pandemic (77.6%).

CONCLUSIONS:

Our results suggest that remote Australians strongly prefer in-person mental health care to telehealth. Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased acceptance of telehealth across regions while social distancing continued, there was evidence that Indigenous Australians were more likely to prefer in-person contact after the pandemic.
Subject(s)
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Mental Health / Telemedicine / COVID-19 / Mental Health Services Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study / Qualitative research / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Female / Humans / Male Country/Region as subject: Oceania Language: English Journal: Australas Psychiatry Journal subject: Psychiatry Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

Similar

MEDLINE

...
LILACS

LIS


Full text: Available Collection: International databases Database: MEDLINE Main subject: Mental Health / Telemedicine / COVID-19 / Mental Health Services Type of study: Experimental Studies / Observational study / Qualitative research / Randomized controlled trials Limits: Female / Humans / Male Country/Region as subject: Oceania Language: English Journal: Australas Psychiatry Journal subject: Psychiatry Year: 2022 Document Type: Article