#Study shows teletherapy has not improved access to mental health care for those who cannot pay

A small team of psychiatrists at Columbia University, in the U.S., has found that despite an increase in the use of teletherapy over the past several years by both psychotherapists and their patients, access to such care has not increased for those who cannot afford to pay for it.

In their study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, the group used data from prior research efforts to show that the use of technology to reach patients in need of psychotherapy has not led to an increase in use by low-income people.

Over the past several years, the use of technology like Zoom has become more popular among therapists. Teletherapy frees both the therapist and the patient from having to travel to a site for sessions. When the pandemic hit, these services grew much more popular.

As the researchers note, prior to the pandemic, the percentage of Americans receiving psychotherapy ranged from between 3% and 4%. During the pandemic, the percentage rose to approximately 8.5% and has remained at higher levels since then, primarily due to the ease of access online.

In this new effort, the research team revisited the data from a prior research effort focused on highlighting trends in patients seeking outpatient care in the U.S.—a study involving 89,619 psychotherapy patients. The researchers found that despite the hope that increasing the use of teletherapy would lead to more help for low-income people, there was no noticeable improvement. Patients using such services tended to be young, well educated and in higher income brackets.

The researchers also looked at data from another study focused on the use of telehealth by children and adolescents and found similar results. Most were members of high-income families, especially those with good health insurance.

The research team suggests that teletherapy has done little to improve access to mental health care for low-income people, primarily because those who offer such services expect to be paid the same as for in-office sessions, either by clients or their insurance companies.

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