Bennefield, Monica E The Efficacy of Telehealth in Diminishing Stigmatization for Veterans Experiencing Mental Illness. 2023. Radford University, Doctoral Capstone Project. Radford University Scholars' Repository.
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Abstract
Mental illness is a complex issue for service members and veterans due to exposure to a range of traumatic events during service. Many veterans in need of mental health treatment are reluctant to seek help due to stigma, which can lead to life-threatening consequences. Being able to reduce or remove stigma associated with mental illness is critical in improving the overall well-being of veterans. The Affordable Care Act galvanized interest in using telehealth to help meet major health care goals and in 2010, the Veterans Administration (VA) established the National TeleMental Health Center to provide veterans access to clinical providers throughout the county. The VA has invested in telehealth to establish timely treatment and potentially overcome stigma as a barrier. With telehealth being one of the most used services among veterans, this synthetized literature view will look at qualitative research on the efficacy of telehealth when compared to in-person mental health treatment in decreasing stigma associated with mental illness. Objective The aim of this synthesized literature review was to determine the efficacy of telehealth among veterans with mental illness and to fill in any gaps in the literature. Methodology A synthesized literature review of data was undertaken using a broad search approach from various databases. The articles selected for the synthesized review were peer-reviewed journal articles, governmental or private sector research, gray literature, and conference abstracts related to U.S. veterans and mental illness. The database searches expand over a period of 12 years and were limited to the English language. Articles that addressed telehealth services or mental health issues for veterans that served in the uniformed services of other countries were excluded. Results The literature review showed that stigma is a primary barrier to treatment seeking for those in the military community, with military masculinity as the common theme and how this institutional structure continues to promote stigma. The study found that those in the military community most in need of treatment do not access or engage in care because of the fear of stigmatization. The selected articles looked at the use of telehealth when compared to in person (IP) or treatment as usual (TAU) and whether there was an increase in treatment access when stigma and other barriers were removed with the use of telehealth as a treatment modality. The selected articles for inclusion focused on PTSD, major depression, and MST within the veteran and active-duty military community. The review demonstrated the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of using telehealth and web-based interventions as modalities to provide evidence-based treatment and reduce stigma and other barriers to care. The study found that when using telehealth, the types of interventions deployed should be appropriate for this treatment modality and the type of telehealth service (telephone, homebased therapy, office-based telehealth, or video-teleconference) should be tailored to the symptomology of the individual seeking and engaging in treatment. Implications for future practice, policies, and research are discussed.
| Item Type: | Doctoral Capstone Project |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | telehealth, stigma, veterans, mental illness, qualitative, systematic review, and thematic analysis |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) |
| Divisions: | Radford University > Waldron College of Health and Human Services > Health Sciences Program |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Aug 2023 01:29 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 01:29 |
| URI: | http://wagner.radford.edu/id/eprint/1039 |
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