Experience of telehealth
In general, people agreed or strongly agreed that the technical aspects of the sessions were adequate. I have been using secure telehealth platform Coviu for the majority of my online appointments. At peak times there have been some issues with the quality of the video connection with Coviu. I understand that this is due to the end to end encryption of the service, along with unexpected demand for the service due to Covid19.
Opinions were mixed about whether or not the telehealth visit was as good as a face to face visit. The data was slightly skewed towards a preference for face to face appointments. With respect to the camera and other equipment, the majority said that it didn’t make them feel uncomfortable, although there were exceptions to this. All but one person felt that they had access to an appropriate space (privacy, physical comfort) for their sessions. This is reassuring to hear as I am aware of some clients accessing appointments from their cars as a way of creating an appropriate space.
“Telehealth is more convenient and that makes up for it not being quite the same.”
Satisfaction with telehealth
Most agreed or strongly agreed that telehealth improved access to services and was more convenient. No one disagreed on this. There were a range of responses as to whether or not clients would have to miss work to see a psychologist if it weren’t for telehealth. During Covid19 restrictions most of us are working from home and as such, responses to this question are expected to be different at other times.
The clear majority of those who responded to the survey agreed that they were satisfied with using telehealth. Whilst this is reassuring, the results may be skewed due to a positivity bias of those who offered their feedback. Responses overall were slightly in favour of continuing to access telehealth services after Covid19 restrictions are lifted. Again, those who are comfortable using telehealth services may have been more likely to respond in favour.
This summary provides a snapshot view of what it has been like for the clients of one psychologist to access services via telehealth during Covid19.
“I find the sessions to be as effective as face-to-face and it eliminates the need for travel.”
I am grateful to my clients for their flexibility in transitioning to telehealth at short notice, and for providing this feedback to help me improve my services to them.
Please note, these results are based on a limited sample size (n = 18).