Telehealth
Meeting You Where You Are
Many people think telehealth derived out of necessity due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. However, it was first used by NASA in the 1960's. Many agencies used telhealth to reach patients in rural areas who didn't have the same access to healthcare as those in larger cities. Before March of 2020, telehealth was growing in popularity, but once the pandemic began, telehealth became the norm. We were forced to learn how to use our computers, phones, and tablets to have our healthcare needs met by providers we knew, and some we didn't know.
At Hopewell, we encourage clients to attend their sessions from where they are most comfortable. This can be anywhere from sitting in your parked car to sitting at your kitchen table with a cup of coffee. We do ask that clients provide us with a confirmation of location at the beginning of each session.
We've seen such benefits of having pets in our telehealth appointments that we even encourage clients to bring their fur babies into sessions.
Other benefits of telehealth include no waiting in a waiting room, no travel time or costs, increased access to multiple clinicians verses being limited to a certain geographical location, as well as a more flexible schedules. As with everything, possible risks are associated with telehealth. Risks include lack of physical face-to-face interaction, meaning triage is more difficult, as well as poor technology such as dragging video or audio feeds. While telehealth has been incredibly successful, it is not designed to treat individuals who are suicidal/a danger to themselves, nor those who may be a danger to others. If you experience symptoms of these behaviors, please disclose to your telehealth therapist immediately.
