Mental Health Care Goes Online: Practitioners' Experiences of Providing Mental Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated sudden and radical changes in mental health care delivery, as strict social distancing and lockdown measures were imposed in the early phases of the pandemic. Almost overnight, practitioners were forced to transfer their face-to-face care practice to online means. To understand the implications of this drastic change for mental health care, and to improve the online care offerings, an online qualitative survey was held among mental health care professionals in Netherlands (n = 51). Our findings indicate that technological and usability pro... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Feijt, Milou A.
de Kort, Yvonne A.W.
Bongers, Inge M.B.
Bierbooms, Joyce J.P.A.
Westerink, Joyce H.D.M.
IJsselsteijn, Wijnand A.
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2020
Reihe/Periodikum: Feijt , M A , de Kort , Y A W , Bongers , I M B , Bierbooms , J J P A , Westerink , J H D M & IJsselsteijn , W A 2020 , ' Mental Health Care Goes Online: Practitioners' Experiences of Providing Mental Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic ' , Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking , vol. 23 , no. 12 , pp. 860-864 . https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2020.0370
Schlagwörter: online psychological treatment / mental healthcare / teletherapy / COVID-19 / practitioners' experiences / Telemedicine/trends / Patient Acceptance of Health Care/psychology / Humans / Mental Health/trends / Health Personnel/psychology / SARS-CoV-2 / Qualitative Research / Netherlands/epidemiology / Health Care Surveys / /dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being / name=SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27214151
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://research.tue.nl/en/publications/ff21d266-5fc3-405d-b84f-e3921d602139

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated sudden and radical changes in mental health care delivery, as strict social distancing and lockdown measures were imposed in the early phases of the pandemic. Almost overnight, practitioners were forced to transfer their face-to-face care practice to online means. To understand the implications of this drastic change for mental health care, and to improve the online care offerings, an online qualitative survey was held among mental health care professionals in Netherlands (n = 51). Our findings indicate that technological and usability problems pose a significant challenge, as do difficulties to establish rapport with clients. Moreover, not all mental health issues and treatment forms are equally amenable to online interaction. In contrast, in many instances, practitioners were positive about the effectiveness of treatment, and reported flexibility, a lower threshold for contact, and lack of travel time as advantages. Their most prominent needs concern better technological, organizational, and logistical support. It is critical that these needs are acted upon by institutions and governments. In addition, current results inform future research on the improvement of e-mental health technologies.