Healthcare providers' perceptions of virtual-care with children's mental health in a pandemic: A hospital and community perspective
- PMID: 34309196
- PMCID: PMC8444835
- DOI: 10.1111/eip.13196
Healthcare providers' perceptions of virtual-care with children's mental health in a pandemic: A hospital and community perspective
Abstract
Aim: The purpose of the present study was to explore the experiences of a diverse group of mental health clinicians both in hospital and in the community, who were required to rapidly adopt virtual-care practices in the delivery of mental health services to children, adolescents, and their families.
Methods: Mental health clinicians (N = 117) completed the Clinician Virtual-Care Experience Survey assessing the following domains: ease of technology use, client/patient-provider interaction quality, and clinician wellbeing.
Results: Although over 70% of clinicians had not used virtual-care to deliver mental health services prior to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic, more than 80% felt it was easy to operate the virtual platforms. Clinicians were divided in their perceptions of the effectiveness of virtual-care, with only 42% reporting that they felt they were as effective in delivering healthcare services virtually as compared to in-person. Virtual-care was described as being more effective for specific populations, while challenges were described in building rapport and when delivering difficult or unexpected feedback.
Conclusions: Clinicians felt there were some benefits of adopting virtual-care practices, while challenges were also identified. Understanding of the impact of virtual-care on service providers is essential in order to strengthen mental healthcare for children, adolescents, and their families even beyond the pandemic.
Keywords: COVID-19; children and adolescents; mental health; psychiatry; virtual-care.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
Conflict of interest statement
The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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