Mental Health
Services and Benefits
- Services de santé mentale aux familles
- An Introduction to Telehealth Services at an Operational Stress Injury Clinic
- Telemental Health
- Environnement des soins de santé
Telemental Health
Telemental Health uses telecommunications technology to bring people in different locations together in a secure and private meeting through a videoconference. It provides mental health services to individuals in communities or locations that may be underserviced; e.g. rural and remote areas. This service usually involves videoconferencing to connect health professionals with hospitals or clinics to provide care to clients. However, it can range from telephone calls to mor advanced technology like patient portals and handheld devices.
If you are a Veteran who lives in a rural community you may have limited or no access to specialized mental health services for an operational stress injury (OSI). You may need to travel long distances to receive the care you need.
Veterans Affairs Canada considers telemental health a viable option for the delivery of selected mental health services to Veterans and their families.
If you are a Veteran who feels telemental health is an option that may work for you, talk to your clinician. It could be offered to you as an alternative to travelling for in-person sessions. Suitability for telemental health is determined by clinical judgement, case-by-case and session-by-session. Concern for client safety and perceived ability to accomplish therapeutic goals are the primary factors that influence decisions about whether telemental health services are a viable option. If you accept the telemental health option you can revert to in-person sessions at any time. Accepting the telemental health option does not limit or alter the range of services that are available to you.
Telemental Health Pilot Project: Calgary
In December 2008, a telemental health project was completed at the Carewest Operational Stress Injury Clinic (OSI clinic). This project enabled the clinic to provide services via telemental health technology to Veterans and their families who would otherwise experience significant barriers to appropriate care.
Over the course of the project 80 clinical videoconference sessions were conducted with 15 unique clients, using 10 different far-site locations. By the end of the project, 12 percent of active clients at the clinic were receiving some part of their treatment via telemental health. All sessions were conducted using the secure provincial telehealth network and infrastructure. Far-sites were provincial health or mental health facilities.
The use of videoconferencing was shown to be an acceptable and often preferred option to increase access to OSI services, for appropriately screened clients. Clients expressed overall satisfaction with using telemental health for the delivery of their care 90 percent of the time, citing reduced burden of travel and reduced time away from work and family as benefits.
It is expected that in the future, all OSI clinics across Canada will offer telemental health services.
Telemental Health Project: Fredericton
Since November 2008, a project at the Fredericton Operational Stress Injury has been developing a Telemental Health Operational Model, which will support clients from Atlantic Canada in receiving specialized mental health services from that clinic.
We have now approved service providers across Canada to provide telemental health services to our you. Ask your service provider or VAC case manager if this service is right for you.
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