High-quality video and telecommunications equipment that transmits images and sounds over telephone cables is bringing a few social workers' valuable services closer to rural clients. Technological advancements have dramatically reduced the cost of equipment that allows transmission of sound and video over telephone lines, putting the equipment within reach of many health care facilities. The future cost of using telehealth technology ultimately depends on on-going negotiations about the 1996 Telecommunications Competition and Deregulation Act, according to the April 14 Medicine and Health Perspectives. The law mandates greater parity between telephone rates in urban and rural areas. Viewing each other on video monitors, social workers and clients both control microphones and cameras with zoom capability.
Cameras can close in on facial tics or hand motions and scan a room to view a group of people.
They receive instructions for using the system and assurance that no one else will be in the room during the subsequent therapy sessions. Both he and Smith said clients who are using the system for the first time are often uncomfortable with a slight lag time between speaking and the other person hearing. However, clients generally adjust to it within 10 minutes. Cossitt said he is comfortable using the technology to provide psychotherapy to clients with the more common problems of depression, anxiety and mood disorders. Telehealth equipment also helps hold the interest of youngsters with attention-deficit disorders.