BACKGROUND The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed the interest in telepsychiatry as a way to help psychiatrists care for their patients, but mental health providers’ unfamiliarity and concerns may impede implementation of such services. This study aimed to determine the effect of an online educational intervention on awareness, knowledge, attitude and skills of telepsychiatry among psychiatrists. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to determine the effect of an online educational intervention on awareness, knowledge, attitude and skills of telepsychiatry among psychiatrists. METHODS The study used a pre-post test design to compare awareness, knowledge, attitude and skills of telepsychiatry among psychiatrists participating in an online course of practical telepsychiatry. The Telemedicine AKAS Questionnaire adapted to Telepsychiatry was applied before and after the educational intervention, during the months of October to December 2020. RESULTS Responses from 213 participants were analyzed before the educational intervention and from 152 after it. The knowledge showed by Spanish psychiatrists before the educational intervention was good in 61% of participants, fair in 37% and inadequate in 2%. Concerning attitudes towards telepsychiatry, 62% self-reported a high attitude, 33% moderate, and 5% low. With regard self-reported skills, 57% of the participating psychiatrists were highly skilled or experts, 22% moderately skilled, and 9% unskilled in handling telepsychiatry equipment. Despite the high baseline values, the educational intervention improved significantly psychiatrists’ awareness, knowledge and attitudes toward telepsychiatry although not their skills. CONCLUSIONS Online course of practical telepsychiatry was effective although future editions need to improve its focus on skills. This educational intervention represents an effort to promote the implementation of telepsychiatry as a healthcare alternative.
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Cuevas et al. (2021) studied this question.