Consultation and counselling via email
Online posting: January 10, 1997
Published in print: Feb. 15, 1997 (CMAJ 1997;156:485)
Re: Psychiatrist says counselling via email may be yet another
medical use for Internet, by Cameron Johnston, Can Med Assoc
J 1996;155:1606-7 [full text / résumé]
I read the article by Cameron Johnston with a sense of déjà vu. I
would like to report a similar experience concerning the use of
email to facilitate continuing therapy for patients. In the last
12 months some of my patients, both children and adults, have
communicated with me via email. In particular, they have shared
concern about drug management, and I have found that the medium
provides an additional way for maintaining contact.
Clearly, issues of confidentiality are still a concern. However
the additional accessibility that email provides, when used with
caution, may provide a useful support to patients above and
beyond telephone contact. My patients have been quite solicitous
about not wanting to receive "free" therapy and have appreciated
the additional contact. Some made a point of telling me that it
was sometimes easier to broach difficult subjects via email
before raising the topic during face-to-face therapy.
Have other clinicians have had similar experiences?
Laurence Jerome, MB, ChB
London, Ont.
blkyuh48@pop1.sympatico.
ca
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