Telemental Health in Latin America and the Caribbean

Abstract

This chapter presents an in-depth look at the potential for telemental health within the diverse region of Latin America and the Caribbean. A review of history of mental health and the current needs and limited available services in the Caribbean and Latin America will be provided. The chapter will use the example of, yet primitive, experience of implementing telemedicine or telehealth in the region to infer the potential utility of technological means in bridging the existing mental health gap. Although this mode of treatment has not been implemented yet, horizons for implementation of telemental health are open in this region, as it promises increased access to mental health treatment to those who need it the most. Future steps will have address cost-effectiveness and cultural acceptability unique to this part of the world.

Trauma Education and Stigma Reduction in Global Settings: An Evaluation of the Impact of a One-Day Trauma Psychoeducation Workshop with Community Stakeholders in the Caribbean Nation of Saint Lucia

“…In addition, this training opportunity was limited to providers in St. Lucia. Given that the wider Caribbean region experiences some of the same lack of training resources (coupled with similarly high trauma exposure rates), it would have been ideal to provide this training (either in-person or remotely) to providers in other countries in the region as well, and to utilize advances in telehealth to do so [30], which was not a feature of this workshop. To this end, the training team has made technological provisions to both record the next workshop and to live stream it to providers in surrounding islands to expand the reach of this training to the broader region, and future evaluation efforts will compare the effects of such a remotely delivered training to those receiving the training in-person.…”