COVID-19 tele-mental health: Innovative use in rural behavioral health and criminal justice settings

Tele-mental health (tele-MH) is an important asset in rural areas across the United States where in-person service access can be limited This resource is even more critical now during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has increased demand for a virtual alternative to community-based mental health and substance use disorder services Many individuals are seeking behavioral health services due to distress related to COVID-19, in addition to a new group of individuals in need of these services who have been released from jails and prisons to prevent transmission of the virus within the facilities Jurisdictions around the country have rapidly implemented and/or expanded tele-MH to continue vital service provision The authors conducted semistructured phone interviews with five senior-level professionals involved in tele-MH provision across four rural U S regions (a six-county region of western Montana;Cumberland County, Maine;Polk County, Iowa;and a 10-county region of western South Dakota) concerning tele-MH services before and since COVID-19, benefits of the expanded technology, challenges to implementation, and any data collected thus far regarding satisfaction and effectiveness of tele-MH These examples of rural communities that have accelerated policy and programmatic changes around tele-MH may be beneficial for other communities considering tele-MH as well as serve as valuable opportunities for additional evaluation and sustainability post-COVID-19 (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved) Impact Statement Public Significance Statement-This article provides an overview of the particular challenges in rural community behavioral health service delivery since the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as how tele-mental health can assist with addressing these significant needs The discussion includes program descriptions of four rural areas of the United States that have implemented or expanded tele-mental health in behavioral health and criminal justice system services since the outbreak, which may serve as guidance for other rural communities around the United States (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)