Telehealth: a new opportunity for out-patient psychiatric services

Erica Bell; Cornelia Kaufmann; Gin S Malhi

doi:10.1192/bji.2022.34

Telehealth: a new opportunity for out-patient psychiatric services

BJPsych Int. 2023 May;20(2):33-37. doi: 10.1192/bji.2022.34.

Authors

Erica Bell¹, Cornelia Kaufmann², Gin S Malhi³

Affiliations

¹ Mood-T Coordinator and Scientific Officer, CADE Clinic and Mood-T Service, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Email erica.bell@sydney.edu.au.
² Lecturer, CADE Clinic and Mood-T Service, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
³ Professor, CADE Clinic and Mood-T Service, Mental Health Drug and Alcohol, Northern Sydney Local Health District, Academic Department of Psychiatry, Kolling Institute, Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Abstract

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare systems rapidly embraced technology as a means of providing care while adhering to social distancing protocols. In this brief article, we report on a new telehealth initiative recently implemented in an out-patient psychiatric setting and outline the novel role telehealth may serve in facilitating psychiatric care globally. The uptake of telehealth represents a new and exciting opportunity to increase both access to, and quality of, care for people with mental illness.

Keywords: Telehealth; bipolar affective disorders; clinical psychiatry; depressive disorders; psychosocial interventions.

Publication types

Review