Telemedicine for Improved Delivery of Psychosocial Treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is considered a major public health problem in the U.S. due to its high prevalence and the high rates of disability associated with the disorder. For thousands of veterans, PTSD is a chronic disorder, resulting directly from military service that causes substantial psychological suffering and social disability. Barriers to PTSD care include poor access, mistrust, and lack of benefit from traditional treatments. Evidenced-based treatments like Prolonged Exposure therapy (PE) are very effective. Unfortunately, these treatments are not widely available, as a large proportion of veterans live in rural communities and have poor access to specialized mental health care. The VA hospital system currently supports sophisticated telemedicine technology that can provide PE to veterans in their home communities. The proposed project will assess the quality of PE provided via telemedicine and its impact on outcomes, and is, therefore, directly related to the VA's and DOD's mission to provide advanced, accessible, and high quality health care to all eligible veterans, regardless of place of residence: "Right care in the right place, at the right time."
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA539125
Entities
People
- Steven R. Thorp