Learning Outcomes

Explore the challenges of telehealth for the doctor when approaching psychological and emotional issues
Identify challenges of telehealth for patients when presenting with psychological and emotional issues
Manage silence in a telehealth consultation
Explore ways of managing uncertainty when a face to face consultation is not possible

Session Outline

Pre-session activity

Complete the reflective task ahead of this workshop. In this task reflect on a recent telehealth consultation in which the patient required help with an emotional and/or psychological issue.

These cases will be shared in pairs during the workshop. The Reflective Task can be found in Session Resources.

Activity 1: Discussion (10 mins)

Is telehealth suitable for emotional and psychological consultations?

This is a brief discussion to break the ice and get people thinking about their different approaches to consultations that involve complex psychological issues or where patients may have strong emotional reactions.

Activity 2: Case discussions in pairs (15 mins)

Share your reflective case

Share your reflective cases in pairs using a process of generous listening in which the presenter shares their story and the listener does not interrupt. When the presenter finishes, the listener can ask questions if time allows. Set a mobile phone timer—each person gets 6 minutes to share their case. With complex patients, this may feel tight, but sticking to time keeps the session on track

The purpose of the sharing is to help participants reflect further on the case they have brought to the session.

Activity 3: Group Discussion (25 mins)

Case A: A Patient navigating a relationship breakdown

Questions for discussion:

What would I do in this situation?
How do I handle prolonged silence over the phone?
How do I respond when someone is crying? Weeping? Feeling suicidal?
How does comforting a patient on telehealth differ from comforting a patient face to face? What would patients prefer?
How do I manage uncertainty when the patient is not in the room?

Case A Scenario

Jason aged 25 years is a regular patient of yours who has booked a telehealth phone consult. He is generally well. He has had several sporting injuries over the last few years and so you have got to know him quite well.

Initially he seems okay as you check consent and ask him how he is. He says, “not so good”. When you respond with “Oh I am sorry to hear that, tell me more,” he doesn’t answer. After a minute or so you gently ask again “Are you ok? How can I help you?” Again, he doesn’t respond but you can hear that he is sobbing quietly. After another minute of silence, you say “are you OK?” He responds with a choking sound saying “I just can’t go on. I didn’t know who to talk to. She has left me.”