Should we use e-psychiatry?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Should we use e-psychiatry?: A qualitative study of patient, carer and health care professional views on the potential benefits and harms related to the internet and psychiatry.
IRAS ID
160627
Contact name
Gillian Alice Lomax
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust and St George's, University of London
Research summary
The term 'e-Psychiatry' encompasses the use electronic patient records, email communication between patients and health care professionals, telemedicine (online appointments, or psychotherapy, via video-conferencing facilities), the use of social media and online forums by professionals and patients, internet searching for information about patients, the quality of medical information websites and clinical research using the internet. The use of technology in psychiatry is increasing, and will make mental health care more accessible, but it raises ethical questions about privacy and confidentiality. No study has looked at the views of UK patients and carers about e-psychiatry, and whether it is something that is welcomed.
This qualitative study will involve semi-structured group interviews of 3 groups. The first will include service users/patients, and the second, carers and family members/friends, both recruited from the South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust (SWLSTG) Recovery College (http://www.swlstg-tr.nhs.uk/our-services/south-west-london-recovery-college/). A third group will involve multidisciplinary health care professionals (HCPs), recruited by emailed invites from the staff group at SWLSTG. Group discussions will be structured around four invented scenarios involving:
1. Email communication between a psychiatrist and a patient with depression
2. A video-conference cognitive behavioural therapy session for a patient with an eating disorder
3. A psychiatrist googling a patient with alcohol dependence, including seeing information about the person on social media
4. Recruitment for a research project using a medical information website and online forum for young people who use self-harmWe will ask the groups to consider these key questions about each scenario, focussed around the professional-patient relationship:
• What potential pitfalls, or ethical difficulties, do you think there could be in this situation?
• What benefits do think there could be?
• Have you had experiences of using the internet in this way for healthcare, or would you like to in future?REC name
West Midlands - Edgbaston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/WM/1060
Date of REC Opinion
17 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion