An evaluation of the use of interactive television in an acute psychiatric service.

This study reports the results of the use of a low-cost videoconferencing system (LCVC) for communication in an acute psychiatric service. Qualitative research methodology was used to examine the use of the LCVC in interactions between psychiatrists, patients and nursing staff, including information on refusals. One hundred and five clinical interactions were studied over four months. The LCVC proved technically reliable and compatible with the performance of a wide range of clinical tasks. However, the results suggest the need for better understanding of the nature and origins of the attitudes that users bring to the use of such communications technology. A framework is presented for the classification of user responses in terms of preexisting attitudes of the users, technological limitations of the system and the mental state of the users. The study demonstrated the potential for interactive television to support many of the communication tasks necessary in a dispersed psychiatric service and for telepsychiatry to become a major method of service provision.