Attitudes Towards Receiving Mental Health Care Using Telehealth During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic

Attitudes Towards Receiving Mental Health Care Using Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this study is to collect patients' experiences and feedback to better understand and improve mental health care using telehealth services. This is critically important as telehealth appointments, including both phone and video calls, continue to be offered for regular appointments to reduce in-person interaction as a preventive measure to help control the spread of COVID-19.

Studying patients' perceived benefits and challenges of using telehealth services for mental health care will allow us to prioritize improvements to the telehealth experience and potentially, patient adoption of and comfort with remote appointments. This study's results would also inform policy makers and insurance companies about the potential utility of delivering mental health care through telehealth, even beyond the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults age 18 and over who received mental health care through Northwestern prior to telehealth implementation from March 15th 2019 to March 14th 2020, and had at least one mental health care appointment through Northwestern between March 15th 2020 and September 30th 2020.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Adults unable to access study questionnaires via computer or mobile device