To Telehealth or Not, That Is the Question: Current and Anticipated Use of Psychological Telehealth for Clinicians Working with the Perinatal-to-Age-5 Population

Date of Award

2023

Document Type

Doctoral Research Paper

Degree Name

Psy.D.

Organizational Unit

Graduate School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Hale Martin

Second Advisor

Laura Meyer

Third Advisor

Kelly Elliott

Keywords

Telehealth, Psychotherapy, Perinatal-to-age-5, Facilitators to telehealth, Barriers to telehealth

Abstract

A growing body of research supports the effectiveness of telehealth for adults, particularly for cognitive behavioral interventions (Perle et al., 2012). However, there is a dearth of research on the application of telehealth services to the perinatal-to-age-5 (p-5) population. The purpose of this study was to understand mental health professionals’ beliefs about telehealth with the p-5 population before, during, and after the COVID-19 global pandemic. This study used three open-ended questions along with a validated scale assessing clinicians’ perceptions and views toward using telehealth (Tonn et al., 2017). Clinicians were asked the percentage of their telehealth use before the COVID-19 global pandemic, during the pandemic lockdown, and their predicted use of telehealth after the pandemic lockdown. Open-ended questions addressed their understanding of barriers and facilitators to telehealth with the p-5 population. Results found p-5 clinicians found facilitators of telehealth include increased access to psychological services, less transportation time for clients, and more flexibility in scheduling. Barriers to using telehealth within the p-5 population include increases in child distraction, communication barriers, need for childcare for older siblings, internet instability, technological difficulties, and change in the clinician–client relationship.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. Permanently suppressed.

Extent

28 pgs

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