The following is a summary of the “Telephone treatments in Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services: an analysis of use and impact on treatment uptake,” published in the February 2022 issue of Psychiatry by Saxon, et al.

How to improve national mental health care and psychological therapy availability is debated. Teletherapy is growing. Nonetheless, it may disadvantage some patients or affect help-seeking. This study addresses 3 questions: What causes telephone assessments? What influences assessment attendance? How does telephone evaluation affect subsequent therapy appointments?

Around 7  Increasing Access to Psychological Treatment services reported routine outcomes. In 2017, 49,923 patients visited 615 general practices. Multilevel modeling with service and GP practice as random factors answered the three research questions. Local service arrangements substantially influenced telephone first assessments. Self-referral, shorter waits, older patients, and lower deprivation were linked with assessment and treatment attendance. 

Telephone mode assessment did not affect assessment uptake but may affect telephone-based treatment uptake. The assessor influenced treatment uptake. Facilitating and integrating telephone assessments into services may increase assessment uptake. This study can help services reorganize after the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased telephone and other distant delivery.

Source: bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-022-04404-1