School-based Telepsychiatry
Sharon Hoover, PhD 

  • School-based telepsychiatry allows psychiatrists to reduce their travel time and thus expand services to a greater number of patients.  They may also be able to interface with the same patient more frequently, enabling them to provide more consistent care.
  • School-based telepsychiatry reduces parents’ work leave, decreases children’s absences from school, and increases their attendance at psychiatry appointments.
  • School-based telepsychiatry helps to build a team for child and adolescent patients with collaboration among psychiatrists, educational staff, parents, and youth.
  • Providing telepsychiatry in schools requires understanding and respect for school personnel and the structures, policies and cultures of the school setting
  • Psychiatrists should work with school personnel to optimize the treatment setting, including taking into account the unique privacy and staffing issues in schools.

References

  1.  American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Committee on Telepsychiatry and the Committee on Quality Issues. Clinical Update for Telepsychiatry with Children and Adolescents.  Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 2017;56(10):875–893.
  2. Cunningham D.L., Connors E.H, Lever N, Stephan S.H. Providers’ perspectives: Utilizing telepsychiatry in schools. Telemedicine and e-Health. 2013;19(10): 794-799.
  3. Stephan, S, Lever, N, Bernstein, L, Edwards, S, Pruitt,D. Telemental health in schools. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology. 2016;26(3):266-272.