Increase Mental Health Services

Telehealth to Increase Mental Health Services Access and Patient Safety for Adults with Depression

Telehealth is the application of digital data and communications technology to assist and enhance comprehensive nursing health services, patient and expert medical-related learning, public wellbeing, and healthcare management. Mental health problems are becoming more prevalent in the United States daily. Suicide became the tenth highest overall source of death for all persons in 2019 in the United States and the second leading cause of death for those below 35 years (Hilty et al., 2018). COVID-19 has worsened the mental healthcare problem by increasing depression, anxiety, and social exclusion. Telebehavioral healthcare refers to the usage of telehealth to deliver mental health treatment. Telebehavioral healthcare links experienced and registered behavioral medical specialists, like therapists, psychiatrists, and psychologists, alongside patients who live in isolated areas (Harerimana et al., 2019). Telebehavioral health programs can help those with severe mental illness (SMI), drug use disorders, and various mental health issues. Telehealth could help curb the growing mental health issues and depression problems in the U.S. because it enables clinicians to offer healthcare and social services in remote locations by utilizing a variety of technology.

Problem Statement and Significance

 Mental diseases and depression remain a big problem in the U.S. and worldwide. Patient safety services for adults with depression are also a concern that needs to be addressed because of the rising death cases in this area. For other patients, such illnesses are incapacitating, causing them to lose out on their job and everyday events. Stress problems are the most frequent mental ailment in the United States, with mental issues disorders are projected to cost the worldwide economy $1 trillion in missed economic productivity (Myers, 2019). Many barriers stand in the way of victims seeking therapy. These barriers include discrimination, limited access to mental healthcare, and low societal awareness of mental health issues. Thankfully, the adoption of telehealth technological advances could alleviate most of such challenges and difficulties by increasing patient access to mental health care via remote teleconferencing and related digital technologies.

Approximately one in every five individuals in the country has a mental disorder, yet just 50 percent of people get assistance. Nearly one in every four persons on the globe likely will always have mental or neurological illnesses at a specific time (Fairchild et al., 2020). Even though medication is accessible, almost two-thirds of persons with a recognized mental disease do not request the supervision of a medical practitioner (Zhou et al., 2020). Telehealth is essential to medical practitioners and nursing because it assists them in learning concerning mental illness and finding treatment providers. Numerous barriers continue to exist for people suffering from mental illnesses. Shame is one of the most significant barriers to accessing mental health care for certain people (Harerimana et al., 2019). The dread of embarrassment involved with admitting mental disorders and requesting specialist care is stigma. The less the general populace learns about mental health treatment, the more sceptical they will be of it.

Practice Recommendations

Depression is increasingly widespread amongst adults and young people compared to the overall population. However, both parties are generally hesitant to pursue mental health therapy. According to a growing amount of data, depression creates additional cognitive problems and occupational degradation. Despite the increasing prevalence of depression, few individuals request mental health therapy because of time constraints, embarrassment, a lack of accessible access to medical care, privacy issues, and a willingness to solve things themselves (Hilty et al., 2018). Through recognizing limitations to mental health care, we may seek to eliminate such barriers and establish preventative, monitoring, and earlier diagnosis initiatives to enhance the mental health of the general public (Fletcher et al., 2018). The data shows how desperately the need for mental health services access and patient safety for adults with depression is needed in the country. The data shows the demand for telehealth services in our healthcare sector.

Theoretical Framework

Scholars are becoming progressively interested in innovation and the variables that influence its spread. This demand has grown as technologies and related breakthroughs have advanced, and company complexities have expanded. The obstacles to telehealth spread and the impacts on telemedicine dissemination have proven instrumental for providing some critical insights to the telehealth study arena (Frank et al., 2021). Scott used Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovation Theory to healthcare companies yet again, and afterwards reduced the emphasis to telehealth solutions and developed a collection of criteria that impact the acceptance of new technologies, relying upon Scott’s study (Wade et al., 2017). Additionally, the concepts on readiness are based around ideas on the acceptance and spread of innovation and Lewin’s Three Phase Model. eHealth and telehealth readiness is how a society is ready to engage and thrive in the e-health or telehealth program and is often assessed prior to the service’s introduction. It considers both the ability to adjust and the apparent desire to adapt.

Proposed Implementation Plan

Today, there has been an increase in the implementation and utilization of telehealth as a means of patient care. Telehealth technologies can expand health plans amid global health crises such as outbreaks, floods, earthquakes, and storms. The methods can also increase the ability to deliver immediate client service whenever face-to-face contacts have become not feasible owing to regional limitations or a shortage of clinicians or medicines in a particular location (Heale & Wray, 2020). Nevertheless, telehealth approaches ought not to be limited to emergencies or serve as a link connecting doctors and remote or underprivileged regions. Telehealth may be incorporated within an institution’s normal processes, allowing patients and clinicians to interact and evaluate healthcare requirements, build hospital care programs, commence therapy and ensure long-term treatment consistency.

A vast network of services can use telehealth approaches. Furthermore, clinicians might employ telehealth in conjunction with a hybrid strategy to boost adaptability. For example, based on individual requirements and choices, a client may have combined in-person and telehealth sessions during their therapeutic session. Telehealth provides the ability to close the mental health treatments gap by rendering healthcare programs more available and affordable, enhancing health benefits, and lowering health inequities (Fletcher et al., 2018). Clients’ gadgets’ condition, accessibility, and functioning may prevent them from being used. Individuals under the age of 40 should be the target audience. Furthermore, individuals may be using computers with relatives or anyone in the family, limiting the kinds of information a customer might wish to save or communicate via a device. 

Conclusion

 The complexities of telehealth services are sometimes overlooked. Many elements influence its performance, from technology challenges to infrastructure, law, transition administration, and business banking strategies. Telehealth services, by design, are provided across a long distance and usually involve over one institutional unit. Such organizations frequently have opposing corporate ideologies, procedures, and irreconcilable business models and governance systems. Additionally, telehealth services encompass many key actors, ranging from medical care personnel and information and communication technicians to financial experts, administrators, and lawmakers(Vahia et al., 2020). How choices are carried out, issues are handled, and controlled transformation is frequently related to a specific speciality, contributing to the complexity that arises from the execution of policies.