Antidepressants are used in the treatment of children and adolescents who have a wide array of mental health problems. As with adults, continuation of treatment among children and adolescents declines dramatically after an initial period. In addition to studies of the clinical efficacy of antidepressant use among children and adolescents, future research is needed to assess adherence to practice guidelines and health outcomes in childhood and adolescent mental health.
Patient care varies considerably across psychiatric practices, a finding that is particularly relevant for developers of performance indicators and risk-adjustment strategies for mental health.
Background
Due to rapidly increasing rates of COVID-19 across the country, system-wide changes were needed to protect the health and safety of health care providers and consumers alike. Technology-based care has received buy-in from all participants, and the need for technological assistance has been prioritized.
Objective
The objective of this study was to determine the initial perceptions and experiences of interprofessional behavioral health providers about shifting from traditional face-to-face care to virtual technologies (telephonic and televideo) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
A survey-based study was performed at a large, integrated medical health care system in West-Central Florida that rapidly implemented primary care provision via telephone and televideo as of March 18, 2020. A 23-item anonymous survey based on a 7-point Likert scale was developed to determine health care providers’ perceptions about telephonic and televideo care. The survey took 10 minutes to complete and was administered to 280 professionals between April 27 and May 11, 2020.
Results
In all, 170 respondents completed the survey in entirety, among which 78.8% (134/170) of the respondents were female and primarily aged 36-55 years (89/170, 52.4%). A majority of the respondents were outpatient-based providers (159/170, 93.5%), including psychiatrists, therapists, counselors, and advanced practice nurses. Most of them (144/170, 84.7%) had used televideo for less than 1 year; they felt comfortable and satisfied with either telephonic or televideo mode and that they were able to meet the patients’ needs.
Conclusions
Our survey findings suggest that health care providers valued televideo visits equally or preferred them more than telephonic visits in the domains of quality of care, technology performance, satisfaction of technology, and user acceptance.
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