Reducing the Treatment Gap for LGBT Mental Health Needs: the Potential of Telepsychiatry

The high prevalence of psychiatric conditions and the concomitant increase in need for mental illness have posed a challenge across the USA. Patients continue to encounter many barriers to accessing care with only 43% receiving treatment. This situation is even more challenging for LGBT individuals,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The journal of behavioral health services & research 2020-07, Vol.47 (3), p.424-431
Main Authors: Whaibeh, Emile, Mahmoud, Hossam, Vogt, Emily L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Barriers
Clinical Competence
Community and Environmental Psychology
Cultural competence
Culturally Competent Care - methods
Delivery of Health Care - methods
Discrimination
Female
Health care access
Health education
Health Equity
Health Informatics
Health needs
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Health Psychology
Health Services Accessibility
Humans
LGBTQ people
Male
Medical education
Medical schools
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental disorders
Mental Disorders - psychology
Mental Disorders - therapy
Mental Health
Mental health care
Mental health services
Patients
Psychiatry
Public Health
Self destructive behavior
Sexual and Gender Minorities - psychology
Social Stigma
Stress
Suicide
Telemedicine
Telemedicine - methods
Trauma
Videoconferencing
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Summary:The high prevalence of psychiatric conditions and the concomitant increase in need for mental illness have posed a challenge across the USA. Patients continue to encounter many barriers to accessing care with only 43% receiving treatment. This situation is even more challenging for LGBT individuals, who experience higher rates of some mental health conditions, with an increased risk of suicidality, due to stressors such as discrimination and trauma. Simultaneously, LGBT individuals face specific barriers at the individual level, clinician level, and systemic level. Telepsychiatry has emerged as an approach that can help overcome some of the challenges faced by LGBT individuals when it comes to healthcare access. This paper examines the ways in which telepsychiatry can overcome the aforementioned barriers and provides recommendations to enhance the quality of telepsychiatry services for LGBT patients. Recommendations include improving medical education, enhancing health-force training on cultural competency, and expanding culturally affirming telehealth programs.
ISSN:1094-3412
1556-3308
DOI:10.1007/s11414-019-09677-1