Use of telehealth mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Jayawardana, Danusha; Gannon, Brenda

doi:10.1071/ah20325

Cited by 39 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Our findings are consistent with those of the MindSpot digital mental health service which reported an 89% increase in website visits, 90% increase in telephone calls, and 16.7% increase in clinical assessments during the early months of COVID pandemic in Australia ( Titov et al, 2020 ; Staples et al, 2020 ). Our results are also consistent with the substantial increase in the consumption of other remotely-delivered mental health supports during the COVID period in Australia and New Zealand, such as telephone calls to mental health helplines, telehealth mental health consultations, and mental health website visits (e.g., Jayawardana and Gannon, 2021 ; Looi et al, 2020 ; Medhora, 2020 ). Taken together with other studies, our results demonstrate that large numbers of individuals sought online psychological support and interventions in the early months of the pandemic in Australia and New Zealand.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

“…It is likely that the cause of the increased service utilisation seen in both DMHS during the COVID period relates to a combination of factors. The heightened level of COVID-related concern and distress in the community may have motivated people to seek support online given the significant disruptions to face-to-face mental health service provision during the COVID-19 pandemic ( Jayawardana and Gannon, 2021 ). Indeed there have been widespread reports across the globe of reductions in the number of face-to-face or in-person mental health consultations, including outpatient appointments, hospital admissions, and emergency department attendances (e.g., Bowman et al, 2021 ; Dragovic et al, 2020 ; Garriga et al, 2020 ; Tromans et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Compared to individuals accessing the service prior to the pandemic, no significant increases in levels of depressive symptom severity, psychological distress or suicidal ideation were observed in users of the MindSpot Clinic during the COVID period, and the small, initial elevation in anxiety symptom severity did not persist ( Staples et al, 2020 ; Titov et al, 2020 ). It is likely that the increased consumption of DMHS may be related to disruptions to existing face-to-face service provision as well as the increased promotion and funding of remotely-delivered mental health interventions during the pandemic (e.g., Jayawardana and Gannon, 2021 ). The COVID pandemic has provided an unprecedented impetus to implement and enhance DMHS capabilities, as well as explore their utility and responsivity at a crucial moment in time ( Andersson et al, 2020 ; Poulton et al, 2020 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A tale of two countries: Increased uptake of digital mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

Mahoney¹,

Elders²,

Li³

et al. 2021

Internet Interventions

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Background Digital mental health services (DMHS) provide highly accessible psychological supports and interventions that can supplement existing mental health services. Concerns about the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have been widespread and provide a unique impetus to examine the utility and responsivity of DMHS. This study examined the service utilisation and user characteristics of two DMHS (THIS WAY UP and Just a Thought) in Australia and New Zealand before and during the early pandemic period in these countries (March to June 2020). Methods Service use indices (website visits, course registrations and prescriptions, clinician registrations) were compared across different time periods before (12, 6 and 3 months) and during the pandemic in Australia and New Zealand. The demographic and clinical characteristics of course registrants (anxiety and depression symptom severity and psychological distress) were also compared across the pre- and during-COVID periods. Results Comparing pre-COVID to during-COVID time periods, we observed substantial increases across all service use indices in both DMHS (increases of >100% on the majority of service use indices). For example, in the 3 months prior to the pandemic, 2806 people registered for a THIS WAY UP course and 1907 people registered for a Just a Thought course, whereas 21,872 and 5442 registered for a THIS WAY UP and Just a Thought course, respectively, during the first 3 months of the COVID pandemic. Slight differences in the demographic and clinical profiles of course registrants were found between pre- and during-COVID time periods, with limited evidence of elevated anxiety and depression symptom severity in the COVID period. Conclusions Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in Australia and New Zealand, the volume of users accessing DMHS increased yet the demographic and clinical characteristics of course registrants remained stable. Results underscore how nimble and scalable DMHS can be during periods of high demand.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A tale of two countries: Increased uptake of digital mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

Mahoney¹,

Elders²,

Li³

et al. 2021

Internet Interventions

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…2 Rural and remote services have long relied on telehealth, 4 and social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic saw its significant expansion across metropolitan services. 5 While some articles have considered perceptions of telehealth during COVID-19, 6 there is limited research on mental health client preferences for face-toface or telehealth consultations.In 2019, to guide service development, we designed a survey of remote mental health clients' preference for telehealth or face-to-face contact. On the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020, we modified the survey to explore whether the pandemic had influenced immediate and future contact preferences.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote mental health clients prefer face-to-face consultations to telehealth during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

Amos

Middleton²,

Gardiner³

2021

Australas Psychiatry

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Objective: To guide the efficient and effective provision of mental health services to clients in Central West and Far North Queensland, we surveyed preferences for face-to-face or in-person contact. Methods: A clinician-designed survey of contact preferences was offered to 248 clients of mental health services in Far North and Central West Queensland in mid-2020. With the onset of COVID-19, the survey was modified to measure the impact of the pandemic. Results: Just over half of the services’ clients participated in the survey (50.4%), of whom more were female (63.2%). Of the participants, 46.3% in Far North and 8.6% in Central West Queensland identified as Indigenous. Strong resistance to telehealth before the pandemic across groups (76%) was moderated during COVID-19 (42.4%), an effect that appeared likely to continue past the pandemic for Central West clients (34.5%). Far North clients indicated their telehealth reluctance would return after the pandemic (77.6%). Conclusions: Our results suggest that remote Australians strongly prefer in-person mental health care to telehealth. Although the COVID-19 pandemic increased acceptance of telehealth across regions while social distancing continued, there was evidence that Indigenous Australians were more likely to prefer in-person contact after the pandemic.

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The efficacy of an online anger management program for justice‐involved youth

Braeuer

Noble

2022

J Addict Offender Couns

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The authors examined the efficacy of online anger management psychoeducation for justice-involved youth. Results indicated a statistically significant decrease in the adolescent anger rating scale for juveniles who completed the mandated program, prompting consideration of online modalities in postpandemic services. K E Y W O R D S anger, juvenile, mandated, telehealth, virtual Juvenile justice servicesPrior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the juvenile justice efforts in the United States had been shifting away from punitive responses to youth offenders and moving toward rehabilitative measures that viewed youth as both resilient and responsive to treatment (Buchanan et al., 2020). According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) (2020b), the national number of juvenile arrests reached a new low in 2019. The data from OJJDP (2020b) indicates that the number of

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Use of telehealth mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic

Cited by 39 publications

References 10 publications

A tale of two countries: Increased uptake of digital mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

A tale of two countries: Increased uptake of digital mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia and New Zealand

Remote mental health clients prefer face-to-face consultations to telehealth during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

The efficacy of an online anger management program for justice‐involved youth

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