Identifying and validating requirements of telemental health services for Iranian veterans

Background: The ability of timely access to mental health care is very important for combat veterans that are facing many barriers such as living in rural and remote areas and the lack of integration. Telemental health services improve the veterans' health situation by providing mental health care from a distance. We aimed to identify the telemental health service requirements for Iranian veterans and validate them from the perspective of the statistical population.

Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 2018. In the first phase, a review was conducted in relevant databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, Ovid, Ebsco, and Web of Science. In the second phase, veterans, mental health providers, and telemedicine experts were consulted to validating of the identified telemental health service requirements by a researcher-made questionnaire. Analysis of collecting data was done using SPSS software.

Results: By full-text reviewing of 15 related articles, the identified elements were justified in 2 main categories and 24 subcategories including telemental health services (17 items) and telemental health requirements (7 items). According to the findings, the highest score was related to "save health-care costs" (4.47) and "reduce transportation-related problems" (4.47). Moreover, the "feasible alternative to face-to-face care" (2.22) obtained the lowest score from the perspective of the statistical population.

Conclusion: Due to the importance of accessibility and patient-based mental health services, more studies are needed to investigate the point of views of patients and specialists to better understand the concerns and barriers to the implementation and use of telemental health services.