title: Transcultural telepsychiatry and its impact on patient satisfaction.
abstract: A telepsychiatry project was conducted to improve access to culturally appropriate care providers (i.e. culturally competent, bilingual clinicians) by the use of videoconferencing. A self-completed retrospective questionnaire survey was conducted with asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. The purpose of the referral was either for diagnostic assessment with a subsequent treatment recommendation, or for treatment via telepsychiatry. The service was free of charge for the patients involved. Over a period of 34 months (starting in January 2005), 61 patients participated in the pilot project. The patients' residency status was: refugees (n = 45), asylum seekers (n = 12), migrants (n = 3) and domestic (n = 1). A total of 318 telepsychiatry sessions (lasting 35-45 min) was conducted, with an average of 5.2 sessions per patient. Nine languages were spoken during the study period (Danish, Arabic, Farsi, Somali, Kurdish, Polish, Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian). A total of 52 patients completed the questionnaire. Patients reported a high level of satisfaction and willingness to use telepsychiatry again and recommend it to others. They preferred telepsychiatry via their mother tongue, rather than interpreter-assisted care.
authors.affiliation: Little Prince Psychiatric Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark. info@denlilleprins.org
authors.forename: Davor
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mucic
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy; D008605:Mental Health Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012036:Refugees / Q000523:psychology; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000379:methods; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology; D049269:Videoconferencing / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D055815:Young Adult