Does the Use of Telemental Health Alter the Treatment Experience? Inmates' Perceptions of Telemental Health Versus Face-to-Face Treatment Modalities

• Published in: Journal of consulting and clinical psychology 2008-02, Vol.76 (1), p.158-162
• Main Authors: Morgan, Robert D, Patrick, Amber R, Magaletta, Philip R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Affect; Attitude to Health; Biological and medical sciences; Client Satisfaction; Clinical psychology; Commitment of Mentally Ill; Comparative analysis; Correctional Institutions; Delivery of Health Care; Delivery Systems; Health Care Delivery; Health Services; Human; Humans; Incarcerated; Institutionalized Persons; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - psychology; Mental Disorders - therapy; Mental Health; Mental health care; Mental Health Programs; Mental Health Services; Organization of mental health. Health systems; Outcome Assessment (Health Care); Patient Satisfaction; Perceptions; Prisoner treatment; Prisoners; Prisoners - psychology; Professional-Patient Relations; Program Effectiveness; Psychiatric Department, Hospital; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Psychotherapy; Remote Consultation; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Teleconferencing; Telemedicine; Telepsychiatry; Therapeutic Environment; Therapeutical relation and framework; Treatments
• ISSN: 0022-006X; 1939-2117
• DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.76.1.158

In corrections, where staffing limitations tax an overburdened mental health system, telemental health is an increasingly common mode of mental health service delivery. Although telemental health presents an efficient treatment modality for a spectrum of mental health services, it is imperative to study how this modality influences key elements of the treatment experience. In this study, the authors compared inmates' perceptions of the working alliance, postsession mood, and satisfaction with psychiatric and psychological mental health services delivered through 2 different modalities: telemental health and face-to-face. Participants consisted of 186 inmates who received mental health services (36 via telepsychology, 50 via face-to-face psychology, 50 via telepsychiatry, and 50 via face-to-face psychiatry). Results indicate no significant differences in inmates' perceptions of the work alliance with the mental health professional, postsession mood, or overall satisfaction with services when telemental health and face-to-face modalities were compared within each type of mental health service. Implications of these findings are presented.