Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Mar 5, 2023
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 5, 2023 - Apr 30, 2023
Date Accepted: Apr 28, 2023
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Mental health client experiences of telehealth in Aotearoa New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic: Lessons and implications
ABSTRACT
Background:
Background:
The COVID-19 pandemic and consequent lockdowns disrupted mental health service delivery worldwide accelerating the adoption of telehealth services to provide care continuity. Limited research exists exploring client perspectives of services delivered via telehealth during the pandemic.
Objective:
Objective:
This study aimed to increase understanding of the perspectives of mental health clients around services provided via telehealth over the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Methods:
Methods:
Interpretive description methodology underpinned this qualitative inquiry. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 individuals (15 clients and seven support people; one person was both a client and support person) to explore their experiences of outpatient mental health care delivered via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand. A thematic analysis approach supported by field notes was used to analyse interviews.
Results:
Results:
Findings reveal that mental health services delivered via telehealth differed from those provided in-person. Participants highlighted several factors affecting their telehealth journey. These included the importance of relationship building, the creation of safe spaces, and clinician readiness in facilitating care for clients and their support people. Participants noted weaknesses in the ability of clients and clinicians to discern non-verbal cues during telehealth conversations. Participants also emphasised that telehealth was a viable option for service delivery.
Conclusions:
Conclusion: Successful implementation requires ensuring solid relationship foundations between clients and clinicians. Health professionals must ensure that the intent behind telehealth appointments is clearly articulated and documented for each person. This is to safeguard minimum standards in delivering telehealth-based care.
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.