Blog 3 - Abbi Herrold

This week in class we discussed the barriers to access to mental health services and how e-mental health can improve access to care. In addition to this we also learned about different case studies in which e-mental health greatly improved the access and quality of care patients received. Finally, we looked at a few situations in which e-mental health may even be superior to traditional mental health services. I was really intrigued by the populations where e-mental health may be better fitted than traditional services.
For instance, I had never thought of mental health services in nursing homes prior to considering it in this chapter. I see this specific situation as having three main paths, all of which have barriers: 1) mental health services are given traditionally from an in-house specialist in the nursing home, 2) nursing home patients are transported to their appointments for mental health services at another facility, 3) nursing home patients receive mental health services by a specialist at another facility via telehealth.

In the first situation it would be very difficult for a single provider to manage all of the patients efficiently and to the best of their ability. In the second situation the barrier would be mobility, these individuals may have a more difficult time getting around and a trip to the therapists could be very physically taxing. In the third situation, it is likely that many people of this population will be unfamiliar with technology such as videoconferencing and will have to learn how to maneuver new technology and adjust to a new form of treatment. However, out of all three situations discussed option three seems much more feasible. This option would be the most cost efficient as transportation costs would not have to be provided for, and would also help to alleviate some of the duties of an in house mental health clinician.

This thought led me to search for "telehealth and aging" on YouTube to see if I could find anything related to using telehealth in nursing homes, and while I could not find anything specifically related to nursing homes or mental telehealth, I did find an example of an elderly couple using telehealth in their home. This video shows how telehealth allowed this elderly couple more autonomy over their health care, and allowed for more accessible and improved healthcare at home. I have attached the link to the video below if you are interested in viewing it.


Overall this chapter really influenced me to be more open to telehealth and to be more aware of all the different populations it can serve. As a future clinician I feel that this is something that should be discussed during the initial stages of care, perhaps as part of a cultural assessment, in order to help find a  treatment plan that would best fit the patient.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhJ58ddukdM