Culturally Concordant Telemedicine
 |
University of Arizona
Tucson
Depression
Community health center
Latinos |
PROJECT
Patients receive psychiatric care through real-time video connection.
Psychiatrists provide treatment for depression through Internet videoconferencing (webcam) to patients at their primary care medical home. The focus is on providing culturally appropriate care from a specialist, even in locations that do not have easy access to those resources. Latino patients who meet diagnostic criteria for depression receive monthly psychiatric care through a webcam link for six months. The psychiatrists providing services are linguistically and culturally competent bilingual Mexican-Americans. The intervention takes place at St. Elizabeth’s Health Center in Tucson, Arizona which serves uninsured and underinsured patients.
RATIONALE
The traditional health care system is typically ill-equipped to deliver adequate specialty care to patients experiencing socioeconomic challenges or to patients with linguistic and cultural backgrounds that differ from the majority.
Population-specific socioeconomic, linguistic and cultural factors require cultural competence and flexibility when providing mental health care. Furthermore, patients requiring specialist care often do not follow up with referrals to off-site mental health services. This project aims to bridge both the cultural gap as well as the physical distance between mental health specialists and Latino patients by providing culturally-appropriate depression care to patients in a familiar health care setting.
EVALUATION PLAN
Funded by Finding Answers in 2008.
Researchers are performing a randomized controlled trial. Patients who meet diagnostic criteria for depression are being recruited at their normal primary care location. Patients randomized into the intervention group are receiving monthly psychiatric appointments for six months, administered through a webcam link at their regular provider’s office. Members
of the control group are receiving treatment as usual through their primary care physicians.
The two groups are being compared to determine whether webcam patients improve more in mental and physical functional ability, report greater satisfaction with treatment, and show a higher percentage of completed visits and medical adherence. The project is also assessing how acculturation levels, severity of illness, age and gender may impact acceptance and clinical response. Finally, the project is conducting a cost analysis of implementing this intervention.
Principal Investigators:
- Francisco A. Moreno, MD
- Jenny Chong, PhD
For More Information
Please Contact:
Francisco A. Moreno, MD
fmoreno@email.arizona.edu |
