Evidence-based practice for telemental health

Abstract

This document was prepared in response to the needs and requests of providers, organizations, and the ATA membership interested in or engaged in TMH activities, for the development of evidence-based TMH guidelines. The broad nature of the mental health field along with an unlimited number of ways to use technology in mental health services led the committee to limit this evidence-based document to interactive video conferencing applications. Appreciating the broad range of providers and settings involved in TMH, recommendations are organized by patient age, types of treatment, treatment setting, and provider specialty. The coding system was developed to encourage more specific descriptions of the technology being used in TMH interactive videoconferencing research and methods publication. It provides recommendations based on clinical confidence derived from the published literature, committee members, and expert reviewers. The committee hopes that the users of this document will benefit from the recommendations, literature references, and the development of a clinical/technical coding system. The document structure and headings were selected in anticipation that users will note the clinical applications that are in most need of additional evidence-based research and perhaps select these areas as a focus of future research. © Copyright 2011, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.