WRCAC Telemental Health Resource Center
Overview
Getting Started
Clinical
Legal/ Regulatory
Background
Introduction to Telemental Health These powerpoint slides provided by the National Center for Telehealth and Technology give a general overview of telemental health by reviewing TMH definitions, the history and benefits of TMH, clinical and non-clinical applications and providing resources.
History of Telepsychiatry (Hafften, 2019) This webpage includes a brief video on the history of telepsychiatry and a timeline description.
Advanced Topics in TeleMental Health (Abel et al., 2016) These powerpoints, which were presented at the 2016 Telemental Health: Expanding the Digital Frontier Conference walks through the history of TMH from its start in 1969, to the VA’s use in 1997 and finally current uses through the National TeleMental Health Center.
Chapter 33. Telemental Health (Cain, Nelson & Myers, 2016) This chapter from the book Dulcan’s Textbook of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry provides an overview of telemental health and walks through the development of telemental health programs for children and adolescents.
Clinical Update: Telepsychiatry With Children and Adolescents (AACAP, 2017) This Clinical Update reviews the use of telepsychiatry to deliver psychiatric, mental health, and care coordination services to children and adolescents across settings as direct service and in collaboration with primary care providers or other clinicians. The update defines terms and presents the current status of telepsychiatry as a mode of health service delivery. The update presents procedures for conducting telepsychiatry services and optimizing the clinical experience.
APA Toolkit for Child and Adolescent Telepsychiatry This toolkit is used to review the history of telepsychiatry and give practical information about training, practice/clinical issues, reimbursement and legal issues when working in the telepsychiatry field.
The State and Sustainability of Telepsychiatry Programs (Lauckner & Whitten, 2016) Telepsychiatry, or the provision of psychiatric care across a distance using communication technologies, has become widespread and has been used successfully for treating a variety of mental illnesses. Little is known, however, about the sustainability of telepsychiatry programs and their long-term success. The goal of this study was to determine current trends in telepsychiatry by completing an extensive literature review and to follow-up with the authors of telepsychiatry research to examine the current status of their programs and success factors or barriers associated with their experiences. Results indicated that modern telepsychiatry programs often target veteran/military or child populations and that many rely on either federal or internal funding. Interestingly, several researchers indicated that they wished to improve current funding mechanisms, while others wished for improvements in the technology used. Implications of these findings for behavioral health researchers are discussed, along with suggestions for improving future telepsychiatry programs.
What is Telehealth? Context for Framing Your Perspective (TRC, 2018) PDF This article walks through different terms used in the telehealth field to describe different practices and provides questions to ask when looking to develop a telehealth service center.
Telemental Health Definitions This site provides definitions of telemental health from various mediums in the healthcare field.
TeleMental Health Dictionary of Terms (A-Z) This webpage by the Zur Institute lists terms used in the telemental health field from A to Z and gives short descriptions of each term.
A Comparison of Telemental Health Terminology Used Across Mental Health State Licensure Boards (Ostrowski & Collins, 2016) Telemental health—also known as online counseling or online therapy—has become a solution for increasing the public’s access to mental health care. Mental health state licensure boards have lacked consistency in the adaptation of laws and the use of language within these laws. Policies are examined from the mental health state licensure boards in all 50 U.S. states for counselors, psychologists, marriage and family therapists and social workers. The determination of whether a policy existed was made. If so, the terminology was compared across professions. Results indicated that fewer than half of mental health licensure boards included telemental health-related terminology in their policies, indicating the absence of telemental health policies. Future research, implications for counselors and limitations are discussed.
Telehealth Models for Increasing Access to Behavioral and Mental Health Treatment This webpage shows the various locations that telemental health services can be conducted and described what each one would look like. These definitions were provided by Rural Health Information Hub in their Rural Telehealth Toolkit.
Computer-Based and Online Therapy for Depression and Anxiety in Children and Adolescents (Stasiak et al., 2015) The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of computer-based and online therapies to treat children and adolescents with depression and/or anxiety. Well-designed RCTs showed effectiveness in treating children and adolescents with depression/anxiety, but researchers say more long term studies need to be conducted for follow-up.
Telemental Health for Children: Using Videoconferencing for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (Glodschmidt, 2016) This column reviews current uses for telepsychiatry for children, data security and pro’s and con’s of the technology.
Telemental Health Approaches for Trauma Survivors (Kuhn, Hoffman & Ruzek, 2015) This chapter from the book Evidence Based Treatments for Trauma-Related Psychological Disorders: A Practical Guide for Clinicians, defines telemental health and reviews the challenges and benefits when working with trauma survivors. The trauma-related telemental health approaches reviewed include: clinical video-teleconferencing (CVT), web-based interventions, and mobile interventions.