Mitigating COVID-19 impact on the Portuguese population mental health: the opportunity that lies in Digital Mental Health (Preprint)

Abstract

UNSTRUCTURED COVID-19 mitigation measures present unprecedent challenges in mental healthcare delivery, posing high risk to the mental health of populations. Ensuring safe and equitable access to mental healthcare requires resorting to innovative psychosocial intervention strategies such as, Digital Mental Health. In this perspective piece, we discuss how timely implementation of a comprehensive Digital Mental Health strategy, coupling research, education, implementation and quality assessment initiatives, might strengthen the Portuguese mental healthcare system and, therefore, buffer COVID-19´s impact on the Portuguese society.

Videoconferencing versus face‐to‐face psychotherapy: Insights from patients and psychotherapists about comparability of therapeutic alliance, empathy and treatment characteristics

“…Generally, patients rated therapeutic alliance and empathy higher than psychotherapists, which is consistent with previous results (Lopez et al, 2019;Simpson & Reid, 2014). This might be influenced by psychotherapists' scepticism towards digital psychotherapy (Feijt et al, 2018;Mendes-Santos et al, 2020).…”

“…VCT is an effective treatment for psychiatric disorders, as a substantial body of evidence shows (Berryhill et al, 2019;Bouchard et al, 2020;Fernandez et al, 2021;Liu et al, 2020;Norwood et al, 2018;Stubbings et al, 2013;Tuerk et al, 2018). Nevertheless, negative attitudes towards VCT exist due to different concerns, for example, about the therapeutic alliance (Feijt et al, 2018;Knott et al, 2020;Lal & Adair, 2014;Lopez et al, 2019;Mendes-Santos et al, 2020). In this respect, our study demonstrated that patients experienced a comparable therapeutic alliance with their psychotherapists independently from F2F or VCT.…”

“…With its essential function in mind, it is comprehensible why the therapeutic alliance is controversially discussed in the context of digitalisation. Digitalisation is connected with a theoretical set of advantages and disadvantages (Knaevelsrud et al, 2004;Roesler, 2011;Wagner & Lange, 2008), as well as with patients' and psychotherapists' concerns about negative influences of digitalisation on their mutual relationship (Feijt et al, 2018;Knott et al, 2020;Lal & Adair, 2014;Lopez et al, 2019;Mendes-Santos et al, 2020).…”

“…Despite this substantial body of evidence supporting its effectiveness, a low intention to use and acceptance of e-mental health, the use of information and communication technologies in mental healthcare provision (Lal & Adair, 2014), was reported in several studies conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic; surveys showed a tendency of negative to neutral attitudes and low to moderate acceptance in the general public (Apolinário-Hagen et al, 2018;Apolinário-Hagen, Vehreschild, & Alkoudmani, 2017;Musiat et al, 2014) and among psychologists and psychotherapists (Feijt et al, 2018;Mendes-Santos et al, 2020). The majority of participants preferred conventional, analogue services in comparison to their digital counterparts (Apolinário-Hagen, Kemper, & Stürmer, 2017;Dorow et al, 2018;Feijt et al, 2018;March et al, 2018) and demonstrated a low intention of use in case of psychological distress (Apolinário-Hagen, Kemper, & Stürmer, 2017;Apolinário-Hagen, Vehreschild, & Alkoudmani, 2017;Dorow et al, 2018;Musiat et al, 2014).…”