[Description of a telehealth mental health programme in the framework of the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia]

Rev Colomb Psiquiatr. 2022 May 27. doi: 10.1016/j.rcp.2022.04.003. Online ahead of print.
[Article in Spanish]

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Background: A telehealth mental health programme was designed at the LivingLab of the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad de Antioquia [University of Antioquia].Objectives: To describe the development and operation of the programme and evaluate the satisfaction of the patients treated during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.Methods: Descriptive study that details the development of the programme. Data were extracted from medical records to describe the patients who were treated. A satisfaction scale was applied to a random sample and the data were summarised with descriptive statistics.Results: In March 2020 and August 2021, 10,229 patients were treated, with 20,276 treated by telepsychology and 4,164 by psychiatry, 1,808 by telepsychiatry and 2,356 by tele-expertise, with a total of 6,312 visits. The most frequent diagnoses were depressive (36.8%), anxiety (12.0%), and psychotic (10.7%) disorders. Respondents were satisfied to the point that more than 93% would recommend it to another person.Conclusions: The LivingLab telehealth mental health programme allowed for the care of patients with mental health problems and disorders in Antioquia during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there was a high degree of satisfaction among the beneficiaries. Therefore it could be adopted in mental health care.

Introducción: En el LivingLab de la Facultad de Medicina de la Universidad de Antioquia se diseñó un programa de telesalud mental.

Objetivo: Describir el desarrollo y el funcionamiento del programa y evaluar la satisfacción de los pacientes atendidos en 2020 y 2021 durante la pandemia de COVID-19.

Métodos: Estudio descriptivo que detalla el desarrollo del programa. Se extrajeron los datos de las historias clínicas para describir a los pacientes atendidos. Se aplicó una escala de satisfacción a una muestra aleatoria y se resumieron los datos con estadística descriptiva.

Resultados: Durante marzo de 2020 y agosto de 2021, se atendió a 10.229 pacientes con 20.276 atenciones por telepsicología y 4.164 por psiquiatría, 1.808 en la modalidad de telepsiquiatría y 2.356 en la de teleexperticia, con un total de 6.312 atenciones. Los diagnósticos más frecuentes fueron trastornos depresivos (36,8%), ansiosos (12,0%) y psicóticos (10,8%). Los encuestados se mostraron satisfechos, al punto de que más del 93% recomendaría el programa a otra persona.

Conclusiones: El programa de telesalud mental del LivingLab permitió la atención de pacientes de Antioquia con problemas y trastornos mentales durante los primeros 2 años de la pandemia de COVID-19 y los beneficiarios mostraron un alto grado de satisfacción, por lo que podría adoptarse para la atención en salud mental.

Keywords: COVID-19; Mental health; Pandemics; Patient satisfaction; Telehealth.

Publication types

  • English Abstract