Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid shift from traditional face-to-face care provision towards delivering mental health care remotely through telecommunications, often referred to as telemental health care. However, the manner and extent of telemental health implementation...

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Main Authors: Rebecca Appleton, Phoebe Barnett, Norha Vera San Juan, Elizabeth Tuudah, Natasha Lyons, Jennie Parker, Emily Roxburgh, Spyros Spyridonidis, Millie Tamworth, Minnie Worden, Melisa Yilmaz, Nick Sevdalis, Brynmor Lloyd-Evans, Justin J. Needle, Sonia Johnson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-01-01
Series:BMC Health Services Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08993-1
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author Rebecca Appleton
Phoebe Barnett
Norha Vera San Juan
Elizabeth Tuudah
Natasha Lyons
Jennie Parker
Emily Roxburgh
Spyros Spyridonidis
Millie Tamworth
Minnie Worden
Melisa Yilmaz
Nick Sevdalis
Brynmor Lloyd-Evans
Justin J. Needle
Sonia Johnson
author_facet Rebecca Appleton
Phoebe Barnett
Norha Vera San Juan
Elizabeth Tuudah
Natasha Lyons
Jennie Parker
Emily Roxburgh
Spyros Spyridonidis
Millie Tamworth
Minnie Worden
Melisa Yilmaz
Nick Sevdalis
Brynmor Lloyd-Evans
Justin J. Needle
Sonia Johnson
author_sort Rebecca Appleton
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid shift from traditional face-to-face care provision towards delivering mental health care remotely through telecommunications, often referred to as telemental health care. However, the manner and extent of telemental health implementation have varied considerably across settings and areas, and substantial barriers are encountered. There is, therefore, a need to identify what works best for service users and staff and establish the key mechanisms for efficient integration into routine care. Objective We aimed to identify investigations of pre-planned strategies reported in the literature intended to achieve or improve effective and sustained implementation of telemental health approaches (including video calls, telephone calls, text messaging platforms or a combination of any of these approaches with face-to-face care), and to evaluate how different strategies influence implementation outcomes. Methods A systematic review was conducted, with five databases searched for any relevant literature published between January 2010 and July 2021. Studies were eligible if they took place in specialist mental health services and focused on pre-planned strategies to achieve or improve the delivery of mental health care through remote communication between mental health professionals or between mental health professionals and service users, family members, unpaid carers, or peer supporters. All included studies were quality-assessed. Data were synthesised using the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) compilation of implementation strategies and the taxonomy of implementation outcomes. Results A total of 14 studies were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria from a total of 14,294 records of which 338 were assessed at full text. All ERIC implementation strategies were used by at least one study, the most commonly reported being ‘Train and educate stakeholders’. All studies reported using a combination of several implementation strategies, with the mean number of strategies used per study of 3.5 (range 2–6), many of which were reported to result in an improvement in implementation over time. Few studies specifically investigated a single implementation strategy and its associated outcomes, making conclusions regarding the most beneficial strategy difficult to draw. Conclusions Using a combination of implementation strategies appears to be a helpful method of supporting the implementation of telemental health. Further research is needed to test the impact of specific implementation strategies on implementation outcomes.
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spelling doaj.art-51b072e72e424ba3b2caa251c601251a2023-01-29T12:07:42ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632023-01-0123112410.1186/s12913-022-08993-1Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic reviewRebecca Appleton0Phoebe Barnett1Norha Vera San Juan2Elizabeth Tuudah3Natasha Lyons4Jennie Parker5Emily Roxburgh6Spyros Spyridonidis7Millie Tamworth8Minnie Worden9Melisa Yilmaz10Nick Sevdalis11Brynmor Lloyd-Evans12Justin J. Needle13Sonia Johnson14NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, UCLNIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, UCLNIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, King’s College LondonInstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, Kings College LondonNIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, UCLLived Experience Researcher, NIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, UCLKingston iCope, Camden & Islington NHS TrustDivision of Psychiatry, UCLDivision of Psychiatry, UCLDivision of Psychiatry, UCLDivision of Psychiatry, UCLCentre for Implementation Science, King’s College LondonNIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, UCLCentre for Health Services Research, City, University of LondonNIHR Mental Health Policy Research Unit, Division of Psychiatry, UCLAbstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid shift from traditional face-to-face care provision towards delivering mental health care remotely through telecommunications, often referred to as telemental health care. However, the manner and extent of telemental health implementation have varied considerably across settings and areas, and substantial barriers are encountered. There is, therefore, a need to identify what works best for service users and staff and establish the key mechanisms for efficient integration into routine care. Objective We aimed to identify investigations of pre-planned strategies reported in the literature intended to achieve or improve effective and sustained implementation of telemental health approaches (including video calls, telephone calls, text messaging platforms or a combination of any of these approaches with face-to-face care), and to evaluate how different strategies influence implementation outcomes. Methods A systematic review was conducted, with five databases searched for any relevant literature published between January 2010 and July 2021. Studies were eligible if they took place in specialist mental health services and focused on pre-planned strategies to achieve or improve the delivery of mental health care through remote communication between mental health professionals or between mental health professionals and service users, family members, unpaid carers, or peer supporters. All included studies were quality-assessed. Data were synthesised using the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) compilation of implementation strategies and the taxonomy of implementation outcomes. Results A total of 14 studies were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria from a total of 14,294 records of which 338 were assessed at full text. All ERIC implementation strategies were used by at least one study, the most commonly reported being ‘Train and educate stakeholders’. All studies reported using a combination of several implementation strategies, with the mean number of strategies used per study of 3.5 (range 2–6), many of which were reported to result in an improvement in implementation over time. Few studies specifically investigated a single implementation strategy and its associated outcomes, making conclusions regarding the most beneficial strategy difficult to draw. Conclusions Using a combination of implementation strategies appears to be a helpful method of supporting the implementation of telemental health. Further research is needed to test the impact of specific implementation strategies on implementation outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08993-1Telemental healthImplementationMental healthSystematic reviewRemote careTelemedicine
spellingShingle Rebecca Appleton
Phoebe Barnett
Norha Vera San Juan
Elizabeth Tuudah
Natasha Lyons
Jennie Parker
Emily Roxburgh
Spyros Spyridonidis
Millie Tamworth
Minnie Worden
Melisa Yilmaz
Nick Sevdalis
Brynmor Lloyd-Evans
Justin J. Needle
Sonia Johnson
Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review
BMC Health Services Research
Telemental health
Implementation
Mental health
Systematic review
Remote care
Telemedicine
title Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review
title_full Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review
title_fullStr Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review
title_full_unstemmed Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review
title_short Implementation strategies for telemental health: a systematic review
title_sort implementation strategies for telemental health a systematic review
topic Telemental health
Implementation
Mental health
Systematic review
Remote care
Telemedicine
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08993-1
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