Telepsychiatry services during COVID‐19: A cross‐sectional survey on the experiences and perspectives of young adults with first‐episode psychosis

Abstract

Introduction Limited evidence exists on the implementation of telepsychiatry within the context of early intervention services for psychosis, the need for which has become even more relevant during the COVID‐19 pandemic. To address this gap, we investigated the experiences and perspectives of young adults recovering from a first‐episode psychosis (FEP) following their use of telepsychiatry services (i.e. use of video conferencing technology to deliver mental health services to patients in real time). Methods A cross‐sectional online survey study was implemented between November 19 th , 2020 and March 9 th , 2021 with young adults recruited from a specialized program for FEP located in an urban Canadian setting. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, exploratory (Fisher's exact test), and content analysis. Results Among 51 participants (mean age = 26.0, SD = 4.7; 56.9% female), the majority were satisfied with the service (91%, 46/51), perceived that the platform was easy to use (90%, 46/51) and felt secure in terms of confidentiality (82%, 42/51). Satisfaction was related to perceptions regarding ease of use, image quality, and employment/studying status. Several partially or totally agreed that the presence of a third party was essential to login during the first few sessions (35%, 18/51), and some needed technical support (24%, 12/51) throughout the sessions. Conclusions This study shows that telepsychiatry is feasible and acceptable to implement for patients in the early phase of psychosis recovery. It also highlights the importance of making technical support available, especially in the first few times of using the service, and addressing patient concerns regarding confidentiality, even when using secured health technologies.

Clinician perspectives on providing telepsychiatry services to young adults with first‐episode psychosis during COVID‐19

“…The rapid adoption of REACTS in the context of the COVID‐19 public health measures may be partially due to the fact that the technology was already approved by the hospital and training on its use was provided before the pandemic onset. Although the implementation was not initially successful, the deployment of a new version of REACTS and the provision of booster trainings facilitated a rapid increase of its use at the onset of the pandemic (Lal et al, 2022). This is of particular relevance given that other settings had not established such a foundation and as such providers were left to rely on platforms inappropriate for patient care such as Zoom's free version, Skype, Facetime, Messenger, and WhatsApp (Pires de Oliveira Padilha et al, 2021), or mainly restrict care to a phone‐based approach until alternatives were established.…”

“…The REACTS platform was mainly used for both video and audio, however, if there were internet connectivity issues, video could be disabled. Additional details on the initial development of the telepsychiatry service, choice of technology, and factors contributing to limited uptake pre‐pandemic are provided in our previous publication (Lal et al, 2022).…”

“…Phase 1 was conducted prior to the COVID-19 pandemic examining patient perceptions on the idea of receiving telepsychiatry services prior to its actual implementation (Lal et al, 2020). Phase 2 examined patient (Lal et al, 2022) and clinician perceptions on the use of telepsychiatry services. The patient data showed that most patients were satisfied and expressed willingness to continue its use (Lal et al, 2022).…”

“…Phase 2 examined patient (Lal et al, 2022) and clinician perceptions on the use of telepsychiatry services. The patient data showed that most patients were satisfied and expressed willingness to continue its use (Lal et al, 2022). In this paper, we analyse clinician perceptions.…”

“…We implemented this study at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM), Canada with approval from the hospital's sci- ing to limited uptake pre-pandemic are provided in our previous publication (Lal et al, 2022).…”