Mental Health Teleconsultation Patterns on the Most Popular mHealth Platforms in Indonesia

Abstract

Access to telehealth services increased significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia, including for mental health. This study aims to analyze the patterns and variations of mental health teleconsultation (especially for insomnia and depression) on selected Android-based mHealth platforms in Indonesia. We performed 32 teleconsultation sessions on 8 most popular mHealth platforms. About 88% of doctors recommend that patients with depression visit a psychiatrist. On the other hand, 38% of doctors recommended visiting a psychiatrist for insomnia cases. Our findings show differences and similarities in handling depression and insomnia cases in the Indonesian mHealth apps. These variations include case history exploration, clinical decision, and therapeutic. With the growth of telehealth developments, we recommend policy actions and further studies related to the implementation of telehealth in Indonesia.