Overcoming Clinician Technophobia: What We Learned from Our Mass Exposure to Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

May combine two claims.

Another large survey found that about 28% of mental health clinicians had negative feelings about telehealth before the pandemic, and those feelings dropped significantly after they moved to telehealth.

“Another large survey found about 28% of mental health clinicians had negative feelings about telehealth prior to the pandemic and that these feelings decreased significantly after migrating to telehealth (Doran & Lawson, 2021).”

• cites Doran & Lawson, 2021 sourceSupported

May combine two claims.

Before the pandemic, clinicians often reported worries about technical competence, privacy, hassle, technical problems, and telehealth being impersonal and poor for alliance and nonverbal assessment.

“Pre-pandemic, clinicians often reported concern about their technical competency, privacy, increased hassle, potential for technical issues, and the perception that telehealth is impersonal and inconducive to building therapeutic alliance and assessing nonverbals (Connolly et al., 2020; Pierce et al., 2020).”

• cites Connolly et al., 2020 sourcePartly supported

  The Results (Overall attitudes toward TMH-V; page not provided) report concerns about technical problems, increased hassle, confidentiality, impersonal care, the therapeutic relationship, and difficulty detecting nonverbal cues. They also report a need for training and technical support, but do not clearly say clinicians worried about their own technical competence. (LLM, conf=0.82)

  Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
• cites Pierce et al., 2020 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

May combine two claims.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health clinicians moved to telehealth, and some reported that their telehealth use might continue permanently.

“Mental health clinicians have migrated to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic and have reported their use of telehealth may be permanent (Békés & Aafjes-van Doorn, 2020; Dores et al., 2020; Sammons et al., 2020).”

• cites Békés & Aafjes-van Doorn, 2020 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source
• cites Dores et al., 2020 sourcePartly supported

  The Results (§3.2.1; page unavailable) report that 91 of 108 surveyed Portuguese psychologists continued sessions using digital technologies during lockdown, supporting the move to telehealth. The Discussion (§4; page unavailable) notes favorable views of these technologies after the pandemic, but does not report clinicians saying their telehealth use might be permanent. (LLM, conf=0.86)

  Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
• cites Sammons et al., 2020 sourcePartly supported

  The Results (page not provided) document a rapid shift to telepsychology among surveyed psychologists: 83% reported using it almost exclusively after the crisis began. Wrapping Up & Reflection (page not provided) says persistence after the crisis was unclear and expresses the authors’ belief that the shift could create lasting change; it does not report clinicians saying their own use might be permanent. (LLM, conf=0.88)

  Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

May combine two claims.

One study found that only 29% of clinical psychologists used telehealth for part of their caseload before the pandemic, but within weeks over 80% used it for nearly all their caseload.

“One study found that only 29% of clinical psychologists used telehealth for a portion of their caseload prior to the pandemic and, within weeks of the pandemic, over 80% of the sample reported using telehealth for nearly their entire caseload (Sammons et al., 2020).”

• cites Sammons et al., 2020 sourceSupported

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Future clinical work will increasingly demand that mental health clinicians overcome technophobia to serve patients better and improve their own well-being.

“The future of clinical work will increasingly require mental health clinicians to better serve their patient populations and enhance their own well-being by overcoming technophobia, a broad term for any level of hesitancy, reluctance, skepticism, worry, anxiety, or fear of implementing technology.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

Telehealth has long been recognized as an effective way to deliver cognitive behavioral treatments.

“Interestingly, however, telehealth has long been recognized as an effective modality for cognitive behavioral treatments (Batastini et al., 2021)”

• cites Batastini et al., 2021 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Successfully adopting clinical technologies could make the clinical workplace more productive and fulfilling by cutting routine work so clinicians can focus on meaningful tasks.

“However, successful adoption of these technologies can potentially lead to a more productive and fulfilling clinical workplace by reducing routine work so that clinicians can focus on meaningful work activities.”

May combine two claims.

One study found that mental health clinicians on average had moderate anxiety about using telehealth during the pandemic, and those without prior telehealth experience had higher anxiety.

“One study found that, on average, mental health clinicians experienced a moderate level of anxiety about using telehealth during the pandemic and that those who had not previously used telehealth had higher levels of anxiety than those who had (Doorn et al., 2021).”

• cites Doorn et al., 2021 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

Technology will change the nature of work across all occupations, including mental health work.

“Whether good or bad, technology will change the nature of work for all occupations — mental health work is no exception.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing), S4 (based).

Mental health clinicians may be especially prone to technophobia because psychotherapy training and practice have rarely used technology.

“Importantly, mental health clinicians may be especially vulnerable to technophobia because the training and practice of psychotherapy has seldom leveraged technology.”

May combine two claims.

Contemporary mental health clinicians report concerns that technology may glitch, carry biases, limit decision-making, and risk breaches of sensitive data.

“While not as severe, these reactions echo the responses of contemporary mental health clinicians who report concerns such as if technology will glitch, have biases, limit decision-making, and risk breaches of sensitive data (McClure, 2018).”

• cites McClure, 2018 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing). May combine two claims.

Most new technologies will replace some labor, and historically this has provoked strong resistance such as strikes and sabotage.

“For example, most new technologies will replace some labor, which has historically been met with stark resistance (e.g., striking against integration and sabotaging implementation; Carlopio, 1988).”

• cites Carlopio, 1988 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Clinicians can keep using an exposure approach to learn emerging technologies that could change clinical practice and benefit all stakeholders.

“Clinicians can continue taking an exposure approach to learning emerging technologies that have the potential to change the clinical landscape and benefit all stakeholders.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

A positive outcome amid the pandemic's tragedies has been major progress in realizing technology's potential to extend the reach of mental health treatment.

“One silver lining to the tragedies of the pandemic has been a giant step forward in realizing the potential of technology to enhance the reach of mental health treatment.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Unlike the global shift to telehealth, overcoming clinician technophobia about other future technologies will require proactive action.

“Unlike the global transition to telehealth, we expect that overcoming clinician technophobia concerning integrating other future technologies will require proactive action.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Clinicians and technologists will both gain from more interaction.

“Clinicians and technologists will mutually benefit from further interaction.”

May combine two claims.

Many clinicians reported that repeated exposure to telehealth produced favorable impressions, and their remaining concerns were about system support such as reimbursement and licensure rather than the technology itself.

“Many clinicians reported that consistent exposure to telehealth resulted in favorable impressions and that remaining concerns are not about the technology but the extent to which systems could support its continued use (e.g., differential reimbursement rates and licensure restrictions; Lipschitz et al., 2022).”

• cites Lipschitz et al., 2022 sourceNot checked — no full text of the source

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based). May combine two claims.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed clinicians to overcome telehealth hesitancy, but technophobia may still block future technologies.

“While the COVID-19 pandemic provided an impetus for clinicians to overcome telehealth hesitancy, technophobia may continue to obstruct future technologies.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable).

Exposure therapy strategies can offer proactive steps toward integrating technology.

“In particular, strategies used in exposure therapy can provide proactive steps toward technological integration.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable). May combine two claims.

Although many barriers to adopting clinical technologies have long existed and some will remain, clinicians can now build on the insight that behavioral commitments and intentions to adapt can help them overcome their concerns and worries.

“While many barriers to adopting clinical technologies have existed for many years and some barriers will continue to persist, clinicians can now build off the insight that they can indeed overcome their concerns and worries with behavioral commitments and intentions to adapt.”

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

The mental health workforce is ready for a fundamental transformation in which clinicians, trainers, and organizations adopt emerging technologies to improve efficacy, reach, and worker well-being.

“The mental health workforce is primed for a fundamental transformation in which clinicians, trainers, and organizations embrace emerging technologies to increase efficacy, reach, and worker well-being.”

Classified as probably not a substantial claim.

Clinical guidelines based on the inhibitory learning model can be adapted to help clinicians manage their own discomforts.

“However, clinical guidelines informed by this model (e.g., Maples-Keller et al., 2022) can be adapted to help clinicians address their own discomforts.”

• cites Maples-Keller et al., 2022Not matched

  Couldn’t be matched to a paper in Crossref, so it can’t be checked.

Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

Relying only on human-to-human interactions can restrict how far clinician training and patient access can scale.

“However, relying solely on human-to-human interactions can limit the scalability of clinician training and patient access.”