Five Terms to Know in Telehealth Initiatives

As telehealth initiatives grow, there is a need for better understanding of collateral changes in psychological terminology. Here, I mention five that may be helpful.

Macropsychology – McVeigh & MacLachlan (2019) note that, “this perspective aims to understand and shape behavior at the population level, through the

application of psychology to factors that influence the settings and conditions of our lives, such as policies, institutions, systems, and structures.” They suggest that such

a perspective can help address issues of equitable access to services. We can expect even more focus on macropsychology as initiatives to reduce inequality develop

over the next several years.

Multidisciplinary teams – Groups of professionals (e.g., psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, counselors, and therapists) coordinate to set and meet treatment

goals for clients. As professionals set priorities in their own clients, they may well find that the coordination of multidisciplinary teams enables them to do far more, more

efficiently.

Multifinality – The notion that a particular event can lead to any of a variety of outcomes. For example, social support and resilience can mitigate the effects of adverse

childhood experiences (ACEs) (Osofsky et al. 2021). Mental health professionals benefit from seeing the protective factors that can make it less likely that early

challenges contribute to generational transmission of distress.

Telemental health – is an extension of telemedicine in which behavioral and mental health services are provided remotely. This field exploded as the pandemic

persisted and all indications are that it will soon become a major vehicle for delivering mental health care.

Warm transfers – Mitchell, Olson, & Randolph (2022) describe warm handoffs as part of the integrated primary-behavioral health model in which the primary care

physician provides a direct and formal introduction of the client to the behavioral health provider. While the original model expected such introductions to occur in

offices, the expanded telehealth options now make such warm transfers possible remotely. Such transfers are also very consistent with the multidisciplinary teams that

can coordinate treatment.