House calls revisited: leveraging technology to overcome obstacles to veteran psychiatric care and improve treatment outcomes.
Despite an increasing number of military service members in need of mental health treatment following deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, numerous psychological and practical barriers limit access to care. Perceived stigma about admitting psychological difficulties as well as frequent long distances to treatment facilities reduce many veterans' willingness and ability to receive care. Telemedicine and virtual human technologies offer a unique potential to expand services to those in greatest need. Telemedicine-based treatment has been used to address multiple psychiatric disorders, including posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use, as well as to provide suicide risk assessment and intervention. Clinician education and training has also been enhanced and expanded through the use of distance technologies, with trainees practicing clinical skills with virtual patients and supervisors connecting with clinicians via videoconferencing. The use of these innovative and creative vehicles offers a significant and as yet unfulfilled promise to expand delivery of high-quality psychological therapies, regardless of clinician and patient location.
Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, New York, New York 10065, USA. meo9011@med.cornell.edu
Megan
M
Olden
Judith
J
Cukor
Albert Skip
AS
Rizzo
Barbara
B
Rothbaum
JoAnn
J
Difede
D000328:Adult; D055826:Afghan Campaign 2001-; D002648:Child; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy; D005196:Family Therapy; D005260:Female; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D007171:Implosive Therapy; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000628:therapy; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D049269:Videoconferencing; D000092864:Suicide Prevention