To Telehealth or Not to Telehealth: Supporting Child and Adolescent Mental Health Providers

Telehealth (also referred to as telemental health or telepsychiatry) has rapidly become a popular modality and has unique advantages and challenges. Choosing whether or not to use telehealth can be an important decision that impacts equity, engagement and progress in treatment. As such, it is helpful for providers working with children, adolescents, and families to consider core areas across modalities (e.g., virtual, in-person, or hybrid care) to determine which modality is most feasible and promising for the recipients of care.

This webinar was designed to support mental health providers as they navigate options for service modalities in a manner that embodies shared-decision making. It briefly lays the foundation for telehealth services and describes five core areas to consider: access, privacy/confidentiality, safety, assessment, and intervention. The presenters discuss these areas by sharing examples from their own clinical practice and experience. They highlight how they arrive at a clinical determination, which is made in collaboration with the parents/guardians (and the youth where appropriate), for the service modality. Guiding questions for you to keep in mind are shared along with strategies to problem-solve potential barriers to telehealth use.