Occupational Therapy in Mental Health via Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Antonio José Sánchez-Guarnido, Esther Domínguez-Macías, José Antonio Garrido-Cervera, Roberto González-Casares, Silvia Marí-Boned, Águeda Represa-Martínez and Carlos Herruzo
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Antonio José Sánchez-Guarnido: Department of Mental Health, Hospital Santa Ana, 18009 Granada, Spain
Esther Domínguez-Macías: Department of Mental Health, Hospital de la Axarquía, Vélez-Málaga, 29700 Málaga, Spain
José Antonio Garrido-Cervera: Department of Mental Health Hospital Virgen de la Victoria/University of Málaga, 29010 Málaga, Spain
Roberto González-Casares: Department of Mental Health, Hospital Santa Ana, 18009 Granada, Spain
Silvia Marí-Boned: Department of Mental Health Hospital Can Misses, Eivissa, 07800 Illes Balears, Spain
Águeda Represa-Martínez: Department of Mental Health Hospital Can Misses, Eivissa, 07800 Illes Balears, Spain
Carlos Herruzo: Department of Psychology, University of Córdoba, 14071 Córdoba, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-10

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about changes in mental health occupational therapy. Research into these changes and the associated risks of relapse is insufficient. To explore the changes that have taken place in forms of occupational intervention (face-to-face and online) during the pandemic, and to analyze their association with subsequent relapses, a multicenter retrospective cohort study was carried out of 270 patients with mental disorder diagnoses under follow-up in day hospitals during 2020. Our results show that the frequency of face-to-face occupational therapy interventions decreased during lockdown and subsequently recovered. Interventions via telehealth increased during lockdown and have since been continued to a greater extent than before lockdown. Patients who received occupational intervention via telehealth relapsed less in the following six months (10.7% vs. 26.3%; ? 2 = 10.372; p = 0.001), especially those who received intervention via videoconferencing (4.2% vs. 22%; ? 2 = 5.718; p = 0.017). In conclusion, lockdown subsequent to the COVID-19 outbreak led to a reduction in face-to-face occupational therapy interventions, putting people with prior mental disorders at risk, while the implementation of telehealth tools helped reduce relapses.

Keywords: COVID-19; pandemic; occupational therapy; telehealth; mental health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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