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. 2020 Jun:51:102074.
doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102074. Epub 2020 Apr 8.

Remote consultations in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary experience in a regional Australian public acute mental health care setting

Anjana Rao Kavoor  1 , Kripa Chakravarthy  2 , Thomas John  3
Affiliations

Remote consultations in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: Preliminary experience in a regional Australian public acute mental health care setting

Anjana Rao Kavoor et al. Asian J Psychiatr. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

In the wake of the recent pandemic of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), with confirmed cases having crossed 750,000, health systems across the world are getting overwhelmed; making it strenuous to maintain essential health services. Several changes were implemented in our acute mental health care service using a collaborative approach to maintain a balance between preventive measures to 'flatten the curve' and to provide care to those who were in need. Mode of service delivery was changed predominantly to tele-medicine, amongst others. It was found to be a workable model, albeit further follow up will be required to better understand its viability and feasibility to withstand the COVID-19 cataclysm.

Keywords: Acute Mental Health Care during COVID-19; COVID-19; COVID-19 response; Corona Virus; Psychiatry; Telepsychiatry.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None.

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