Telemental health: Reflections on how to move the field forward

Richardson, Frueh, Grubaugh, Egede, and Elhai (2009) review recent literature on providing mental health care via videoconferencing. Videoconferencing is one of a growing number of telecommunications technologies used to provide telemental health care. This commentary places videoconferencing in the broader field of telemental health care and discusses some of the areas that are crucial to the advancement of the field. To this end, the assumption that telemental health intervention improves access to care is explored. The notion that different telemental health telecommunications media, including the telephone and Internet, may have different benefits and disadvantages with respect to both efficacy and access is discussed. Existing and emerging telecommunications technologies not only allow us to extend access to mental health care, but they also provide opportunities to develop fundamentally new treatment paradigms. To support this development, we are in need of new theories and conceptual frameworks that can promote the development and evaluation of new telemental health interventions.