COVID-19 has not only affected the physical health of people but has also become a major cause of stress and anxiety among the population. The importance of connecting to people, and sharing how we feel with each other helps a lot in coping with anxiety and stress. But the fact that due to COVID- 19, we can neither see nor meet each other has led to even worsening of mental health situations. Therefore, the only escape is seeking counseling from experts through telemedicine.
Advantages of telehealth services:
- Trustworthy services: According to Paul Haarman,telehealth is not a new sector among health services,and hence the services it offers are trustworthy and reliable. Moreover, the use and approval of telehealth services have been growing lately mainly because it is the only way possible to cope up with mental health and not spread the virus at the same time.
- Expert availability: Expertsavailable to offer services in the telehealthcare sectors provide proper counseling as required by the client from the comfort of their residences. This can be done through video calls as per the convenience of your gadget. Telehealth services are accessible on smartphones, tablets,or even laptops.
- Diversified treatments: Telehealth helps deal with every type of mental health concern. Also, the people who can not reach mental health services because of distance or any other personal cause can easily reach up to telehealth services. Apart from mental health, telehealth services also focus on the treatment of other diseases which individuals might come across during the pandemic. Telehealth services even provide online reports.
- Convenient services: During the pandemic where no treatment seemed possible to fight against the virus, people had to choose the isolation strategy to at least reduce the spread of the virus.Even though isolation has helped in reducing the spread of the virusbut has resulted in limited or no contact with loved ones, resulting in mental stress. Hence, telehealth has proven to be the most convenient healthcare service to reach and seek help from.
- Timely treatment: The importance of mental health cannot be emphasized enough,and delaying the treatment may cause even worsening of the illness. At times when the virus has made it dangerous to even step out of the house, telehealth has proven to be the most convenient in offering proper treatment towards mental health in the shortest period possible.
Conclusion
Before the spread of the virus, telehealth services were only used to reach up to people who could not get in touch with the hospitals because of poor transportation facilities or lack of other resources. Thus, telehealth services were only focused on rural areas. But as Paul Haarman explains, with the spread of the coronavirus, telehealth services remain the only safe healthcare service as it offers treatment while maintaining social distancing and other safety precautions. Therefore, the demand for telehealth services has been rising, and it has been offering reliable services ever since.