Researchers: Hanoch Kaphzan¹, Maya Negev¹

Background: Current academic research reveals the existence of significant gaps between the perceptions, assumptions and attitudes of mental healthcare professionals regarding telepsychiatry and the findings of comparative empirical studies on the subject.

Objectives: The goal of the present study was to identify and map the diversity of attitudes and barriers hindering the implementation of widespread telepsychiatry in the Israeli context, to inspect different models of implementation, and propose policy recommendations to improve it.

Method: a “Policy Delphi” method was applied, which combined a preliminary phase of qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews, together with statistical analysis of results from two rounds of online survey, all conducted among a group of mental healthcare experts.

Findings: The study delineated several areas of consensus, together with regions of disagreement regarding telepsychiatry, among our participants. Results also showed a significant gap in support for telepsychiatry between participants according to the existence of personal experience with it. Significant changes in attitudes were seen in participants which experienced telepsychiatry for the first time during the study. Furthermore, significant differences in attitude were also related to one’s organizational affiliation.

Conclusions: This study showed that personal experience with telepsychiatry leads to significant positive changes in one’s attitude towards it. Furthermore, significant differences in approach towards telepsychiatry were found between different Israeli HMOs

Recommendations: The final report made several recommendations regarding personal experience and implementation, including some suggestions for the organizational and national levels

Research end date: 12/2021