Presents information on videoconferencing, a technology which
allows patients and therapists to converse via closed-circuit television.
Benefits of the technology; Disadvantages of videoconferencing;
Comparison between telepsychiatry and conventional mental health services
in rural Queensland, Australia.
By
Kelly McCarthy, published on March 01, 2001
TELEPSYCHIATRY
With the advent of modern technology, videoconferencing has become
the rage in all types of office environments--even mental health
practitioners are forging virtual patient-therapist relationships. And
while those contemplating "telepsychiatry" may have reservations, new
research suggests their concerns may be unwarranted.
In a review of telepsychiatry's procedures and methodologies,
published recently in the journal Psychiatric Services, researchers found
that psychiatric interviews conducted by videoconferencing were not only
reliable, but resulted in "high levels of satisfaction" among
users.
Conducted by a group of doctors, lead researcher B. Christopher
Frueh, Ph.D., a psychiatry professor at the Medical University of South
Carolina, believes there are multiple groups of people who can benefit
from videoconferencing, which allows patients and therapists to converse
via closed-circuit television.
"You can put the equipment in the homes or offices of patients,"
Frueh explains, or alternatively, "a patient can go to a nearby satellite
clinic and conference with experts. Clinicians can also conference with
each other for references or discussion of cases. The Department of
Defense uses it to contact people on ships in the ocean. You can use it
for prison-security purposes so the patients can stay in prison."
Frueh's data was gathered from the online database MEDLINE, which
included research from 1970 through February 2000 on telepsychiatry,
telemedicine and videoconferencing. His team culled anecdotal accounts on
videoconferencing and case studies of various applications of the
technology. They also looked at two clinical trials indicating that
patients treated via telepsychiatry had greater attendance rates and
required dramatically shorter sessions than those who had
person-to-person therapy.
Videoconferencing may have its disadvantages, including less
privacy and confidentiality and a less fulfilling experience, but Frueh
believes some patients may overcome these shortcomings by first meeting
with the therapist. And for those put off by the cost of attending
therapy sessions, the researchers also discovered one report comparing
telepsychiatry to conventional mental health services in rural
Queensland, Australia, and found that a possible $210,000 a year could be
saved in the state using the technology because of reduced travel.
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