Telepsychiatry: What Clinicians Need to Know About Digital Mental Healthcare

Overview

Journal BJPsych Adv

Publisher Cambridge University Press

Specialty Medical Education

Date 2023 Jul 31

PMID 37521104

Authors

Thomas J Brunt

Oliver Gale-Grant

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the use of online and remote mental healthcare provision. The immediate need to transform services has not allowed for thorough examination of the literature supporting remote delivery of psychiatric care. In this article we review the history of telepsychiatry, the rationale for continuing to offer services remotely and the limitations of psychiatry without in-person care. Focusing on randomised controlled trials we find that evidence for the efficacy of remotely delivered psychiatric care compared with in-person treatment is of low quality and limited scope but does not demonstrate clear superiority of one care delivery method over the other.

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