Key Messages

• Preliminary evidence for DH and TAPs: encouraging but limited
• Advantages: convenience, accessibility, cost effectiveness, stigma reduction, and similar efficacy and drop-out rate to in-person delivery.
• Barriers: technology, privacy, the therapeutic relationship, ease of client disengagement, incompatibility of elements of therapy with technology, clinician perspectives, safety.
• Recommendations: ensure technology quality and security, intentional rapport, progress and commitment to therapy, revised therapy standards and practices, and risk and safety protocol.
• Use of DH during pandemic response: While DH solutions are necessary, a cautious approach is warranted before widespread adoption of DH for TAPs, until more evidence-based literature is available.

Keywords

• Mental health
• Trauma
• Post-traumatic stress injuries
• PTSD
• Military
• Veteran
• Public safety personnel
• First responders
• Digital health
• Psychotherapy

Author(s)

• Nominated Principal Applicant: Suzette Brémault-Phillips, PhD, OT, University of Alberta
• Chelsea Jones, MScOT, PhD (cand.)
• Antonio Miguel Cruz, PhD, Eng.
• Lorraine Smith-MacDonald, PhD
• Emily Cruikshank, MEd, PhD (cand.)
• Delaram Baghooi, MSc (cand.)
• Avneet Kaur Chohan, BSc, MScOT (cand.)
• Alexa Laidlaw, BSc, MScOT (cand.)
• Allison White, BSW, MScOT (cand.)
• Olga Winkler, MD
• Lisa Burback, MD
• Phillip R. Sevigny, PhD
• Liz Dennett, MLIS
• Martin Ferguson-Pell, PhD
• Andrew Greenshaw, PhD

For more information, please contact: Suzette Brémault-Phillips, suzette2@ualberta.ca

Related Syntheses

• Niikaniganaw (All My Relations) Ii – the COVID-19 Rapid Response: Indigenous Approaches to Synthesizing Knowledge for Culturally-safe and Stigma Free Mental Health Care for Under-served Indigenous Communities in Ottawa-Gatineau
• The Relationship Between Social Connectedness and Mental Health for Residents of Long-term Care Homes: Knowledge Synthesis and Mobilization
• The GID-COVID Project: Gender and Intervention in Addiction with Individuals in Situations of Social Precarity in the Context of a Pandemic

Supplemental Links

• Pre-print: Virtual Trauma-Focused Therapy for Military Members, Veterans, and Public Safety Personnel with Post-Traumatic Stress Injury: A Systematic Scoping Review

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(External links)

Full PDF

Lay Summary PDF

Population

Healthcare, Front-line Workers and Public Safety Personnel

Language

To ensure the rapid dissemination of this critical information, information is published in the language in which it was submitted. Please contact us for French or English translations.