Telehealth and Beyond: Promoting the Mental Well-Being of Children and Adolescents During COVID

Frontiers in Pediatrics

article

April Joy Damian¹  Katy Stinchfield³  R. Timothy Kearney¹ 

[1] Weitzman Institute, Community Health Center, Inc.;Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health;School Based Health Alliance

关键词: telehealth;    mental healthcare access;    children and adolescents;    pediatrics;    health equity and behavioral health;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fped.2022.793167

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

There is growing recognition of converging pandemics with a mental health crisis emerging alongside COVID-19. While the literature has primarily focused on the biopsychosocial impact of the pandemic on higher-risk populations (e.g., the elderly) (1–5), recent studies suggest that COVID-19 is negatively affecting the mental health of children and adolescents (6–8). Studies have shown that youth have exhibited increased irritability, inattention, disturbed sleep, and other depressive and anxious symptoms (6, 9–11), highlighting the profound impact of the pandemic on the emotional and social development on this population. Moreover, during the current pandemic, there has been greater attention and investment in telehealth, including telemental health, as a means of reducing the risk of infection among patients and healthcare workers, while still providing needed care. Telemental health includes a wide range of services including psychiatric evaluations, therapy (individual, family, and group), patient education, and medication management. Prior to the pandemic, there had already been a strong body of evidence for telehealth-based interventions. For example, the American Psychiatric Association have noted multiple studies supporting its effectiveness being comparable to in-person treatment in terms of therapeutic engagement, quality of care, validity/reliability of assessment, and clinical outcomes (12). Moreover, studies suggest that there are a few populations for whom telemental health may be preferable to in-person care, including patients with autism spectrum disorders, anxiety disorders, and/or physical limitations (13).

【 授权许可】

CC BY