Role of Telemental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Early Review

Abstract

Context: The demand for remote psychologist services increased during the COVID-19 outbreak due to the emergence of multiple mental health problems. Many countries have applied telemental health approaches to managing and treating mental disorders. This review study aimed to investigate the role of information technology, especially telemental health, in managing psychological problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence Acquisition: This study was conducted in four phases: Identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. Keywords were selected from MeSH to search the principal medical databases. Finally, important information was extracted from nine selected papers, including the author names, study setting, purpose, technology, method, intervention, and results. Results: Some studies provided telepsychiatry to people whose mental problems developed during COVID-19. Another study explained the telepsychological service for patients with mental illness before the epidemic. Most articles signified the influential role of telehealth in screening and reducing social contacts. Besides, this technology played a significant role in providing mental health services. Conclusions: The study showed that telemental health and telepsychiatry approaches effectively promote the mental health and well-being of participants with various mental problems. In implementing these approaches, some items such as allocating sufficient funds, preparing appropriate infrastructure, providing training for users, defining suitable evaluation methods, and considering confidentiality and privacy need to be considered.