Telemedicine-the Most Convenient Method to Deal with Mental Health during the Pandemic-apollo Telehealth’s Qualitative Descriptive Study

Abstract

Aims: This descriptive study aims to understand the positive impact created by tele counselling services on patients’ mental health during the COVID pandemic. Study Design: Qualitative Descriptive study. Place and Duration of Study: Medical Response Center, Apollo Telehealth. Methodology: The sample consisted of 496 patients (194 Female, 301 male) who called the helpline number to seek psychological counselling over the period of 1 year 7 months (January 2020 to July 2021). The inclusion criteria included clients who had completed the counselling session successfully, Clients between 10 years and above, and Clients who availed the psychological counselling sessions.Clients below 9 years of age and Clients who are not enrolled as corporate beneficiaries of Apollo Telehealth were excluded from the research study. Results: The majority of utilization was observed in the 18 states captured are Maharashtra (32%) followed by Karnataka (14%), Punjab (9%), Telangana (8%), Delhi (5%). It was also observed that 4% of our clients were slightly cautious about disclosing the state they were calling from however completed the session with us. The majority of clients (61%) were men aged between 30-39 years, married (65%). 86% seeked help for their self-issues and 14% called for support and guidance for their family and friends. Clients approached primarily for (37%) emotional issues followed by Interpersonal issues (22%). Conclusion: The study findings support the continued use of telehealth services offered by mental health providers and organizations, as respondents indicated a desire to use these services as it was found to be more useful and helpful in dealing with their mental health issues and conditions during the pandemic. In summary, the results demonstrate a large shift in telehealth use and provide an encouraging outlook for the use of tele counselling and tele mental health services after the COVID-19 pandemic.