Combating COVID-19 pandemic with technology: Perceptions of Mental Health Professionals towards Telepsychiatry

Abstract

Telepsychiatry, a subset of telemedicine, has been defined as the provision of psychiatric services to patients remotely using information and communication technologies (Chakrabarti, 2015). This cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals working in the Mental Health Services, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha Qatar towards telepsychiatry. Methodology: An online questionnaire based cross-sectional survey was conducted among all mental health professionals including psychiatrists, nurses, occupational therapists, clinical pharmacists, social workers, and psychologists. A thirty-item questionnaire was developed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of telepsychiatry in relation to COVID-19 following extensive literature search on the topic. An email with a link to the online survey was sent to all the eligible participants through a department group email. Responses were collected during a six-week period. All approvals from respective departments were obtained before proceeding with the study.