Telemental Health Care, an Effective Alternative to Conventional Mental Care: a Systematic Review

Background and Objectives: The Internet is widely used and disseminated amongst youngsters and many web-based applications may serve to improve mental health care access, particularly in remote and distant sites or in settings where there is a shortage of mental health practitioners. However, in recent years, specific digital psychiatry interventions have been developed and implemented for special populations such as children and adolescents. Materials and Methods: Hereby, we describe the current state-of-the-art in the field of TMH application for young mental health, focusing on recent studies concerning anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and affective disorders. Results: After screening and selection process, a total of 56 studies focusing on TMH applied to youth depression (n = 29), to only youth anxiety (n = 12) or mixed youth anxiety/depression (n = 7) and youth OCD (n = 8) were selected and retrieved. Conclusions: Telemental Health (TMH; i.e., the use of telecommunications and information technology to provide access to mental health assessment, diagnosis, intervention, consultation, supervision across distance) may offer an effective and efficacious tool to overcome many of the barriers encountering in the delivery of young mental health care.

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Analysis of Facilitators and Barriers to the Delivery of Routine Care during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare9050528 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 528

Author(s):

Cristian Lieneck ◽

Brooke Herzog ◽

Raven Krips

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Health Care Services ◽

Care Delivery ◽

Routine Care ◽

Future Research ◽

Healthcare Organizations ◽

Care Services ◽

Global Pandemic ◽

Facilitators And Barriers

The delivery of routine health care during the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to be challenged as public health guidelines and other local/regional/state and other policies are enforced to help prevent the spread of the virus. The objective of this systematic review is to identify the facilitators and barriers affecting the delivery of routine health care services during the pandemic to provide a framework for future research. In total, 32 articles were identified for common themes surrounding facilitators of routine care during COVID-19. Identified constructed in the literature include enhanced education initiatives for parents/patients regarding routine vaccinations, an importance of routine vaccinations as compared to the risk of COVID-19 infection, an enhanced use of telehealth resources (including diagnostic imagery) and identified patient throughput/PPE initiatives. Reviewers identified the following barriers to the delivery of routine care: conservation of medical providers and PPE for non-routine (acute) care delivery needs, specific routine care services incongruent the telehealth care delivery methods, and job-loss/food insecurity. Review results can assist healthcare organizations with process-related challenges related to current and/or future delivery of routine care and support future research initiatives as the global pandemic continues.

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A systematic review examining the clinical and health-care outcomes for congenital heart disease patients using home monitoring programmes

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare ◽

10.1177/1357633x20984052 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1357633X2098405

Author(s):

Rachel Crawford ◽

Ciara Hughes ◽

Sonyia McFadden ◽

Jacqui Crawford

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Health Care ◽

Congenital Heart Disease ◽

Heart Disease ◽

Congenital Heart ◽

Case Series ◽

Home Monitoring ◽

Risk Of Bias ◽

Health Care Outcomes ◽

Care Outcomes

Objectives This review aimed to present the clinical and health-care outcomes for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) who use home monitoring technologies. Methods Five databases were systematically searched from inception to November 2020 for quantitative studies in this area. Data were extracted using a pre-formatted data-collection table which included information on participants, interventions, outcome measures and results. Risk of bias was determined using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool for randomised controlled trials (RCTs), the Newcastle–Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale for cohort studies and the Institute of Health Economics quality appraisal checklist for case-series studies. Data synthesis: Twenty-two studies were included in this systematic review, which included four RCTs, 12 cohort studies and six case-series studies. Seventeen studies reported on mortality rates, with 59% reporting that home monitoring programmes were associated with either a significant reduction or trend for lower mortality and 12% reporting that mortality trended higher. Fourteen studies reported on unplanned readmissions/health-care resource use, with 29% of studies reporting that this outcome was significantly decreased or trended lower with home monitoring and 21% reported an increase. Impact on treatment was reported in 15 studies, with 67% of studies finding that either treatment was undertaken significantly earlier or significantly more interventions were undertaken in the home monitoring groups. Conclusion The use of home monitoring programmes may be beneficial in reducing mortality, enabling earlier and more timely detection and treatment of CHD complication. However, currently, this evidence is limited due to weakness in study designs.

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