Transcultural Telepsychiatry and Its Impact on Patient Satisfaction

A telepsychiatry project was conducted to improve access to culturally appropriate care providers (i.e. culturally competent, bilingual clinicians) by the use of videoconferencing. A self-completed retrospective questionnaire survey was conducted with asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants. The purpose of the referral was either for diagnostic assessment with a subsequent treatment recommendation, or for treatment via telepsychiatry. The service was free of charge for the patients involved. Over a period of 34 months, 61 patients participated in the pilot project. A total of 318 telepsychiatry sessions (lasting 35-45 min) was conducted, with an average of 5.2 sessions per patient. Nine languages were spoken during the study period (Danish, Arabic, Farsi, Somali, Kurdish, Polish, Bosnian, Serbian and Croatian). A total of 52 patients completed the questionnaire. Patients reported a high level of satisfaction and willingness to use telepsychiatry again and recommend it to others. They preferred telepsychiatry via their mother tongue, rather than interpreter-assisted care.