Graduate School of Social Service, Fordham University, 113 W. 60th st. 7th Fl, New York, NY, 10023, USA.
Long Island University Brooklyn Campus, Brooklyn, NY, USA.
Community Ment Health J. 2024 Jan;60(1):148-153. doi: 10.1007/s10597-023-01166-2. Epub 2023 Jul 6.
Telehealth dramatically expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, but there remains a dearth of literature examining how this service modality is utilized by individuals who use substances. This study examined patterns of telehealth use and individual level sources of variation among clients receiving counseling in an outpatient substance use clinic in early 2021 (n = 370). Univariate statistics described the percentage of counseling visits delivered via telehealth. OLS regression explored individual level demographic and clinical characteristics that predicted greater telehealth utilization. Overall, more than two thirds (86%) of counseling visits were conducted via telehealth. Individuals with unstable housing or with a co-occurring serious mental illness used less telehealth. Findings suggest that while telehealth appears to be an acceptable way to deliver substance use counseling, patterns varied among vulnerable subgroups. As telehealth becomes further integrated into behavioral health services delivery, it is critical to uncover sources of this variation and identify potential solutions.
远程医疗在 COVID-19 大流行期间大幅扩张，但仍缺乏研究关注使用物质的个体如何利用这种服务模式。本研究调查了在 2021 年初的一个门诊物质使用诊所接受咨询的客户中，远程医疗使用模式和个体层面变化来源的模式（n=370）。单变量统计描述了通过远程医疗提供的咨询访问的百分比。OLS 回归探讨了预测更多远程医疗使用的个体层面人口统计学和临床特征。总体而言，超过三分之二（86%）的咨询访问是通过远程医疗进行的。住房不稳定或同时患有严重精神疾病的个体使用远程医疗的次数较少。研究结果表明，尽管远程医疗似乎是提供物质使用咨询的一种可接受方式，但在脆弱亚组中，模式存在差异。随着远程医疗进一步融入行为健康服务的提供，发现这种变化的来源并确定潜在的解决方案至关重要。
