Telepsychiatry with rural American Indians: issues in civil commitments.
The use of live interactive videoconferencing to provide psychiatric care, telepsychiatry, has particular relevance for improving mental health treatment to rural American Indian reservations. There is little literature on civil commitments in telepsychiatry and none specifically addressing this topic among American Indians. This article reviews telepsychiatry in the mental health care of American Indians, civil commitments and telepsychiatry in general, and the current state of civil commitments in American Indian communities. We conclude by considering commitment through telepsychiatry in rural reservations and offering guidelines to assist practitioners in navigating this challenging landscape. Civil commitments of American Indian patients residing in rural reservations can be successfully accomplished through videoconferencing by thoughtful and informed clinicians. However, much more work is needed in this area, including research into the cultural attitudes and perspectives towards commitments and further inquiry regarding potential legal precedents, as well as case reports and examples of this work.
American Indian and Alaska Native Programs, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building, Aurora, CO 80045-0508, USA. jay.shore@uchsc.edu
Jay H
JH
Shore
Joseph D
JD
Bloom
Spero M
SM
Manson
Ron J
RJ
Whitener
D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D003134:Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008007:Licensure, Medical / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D012931:Social Environment; D014481:United States; D016549:United States Indian Health Service / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D049269:Videoconferencing / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*