Year 2021
Title Telehealth, Virtual Care, & What Lies Beyond In-Person Services: Behavioral Health for a Post- COVID-19 World
Organization The Network for Social Work Management
Role Policy Fellow
Skills used Adobe Suite, Canva, Padlet, PowerPoint, Social media analysis (Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube), Zoom, Zotero
URL https://socialworkmanager.org/nswm-policy-fellows-2021-virtual-presentations/
Stage Completed
Description
I completed a competitive 9-month postgraduate policy fellowship focusing on an independent research project, mentored by a senior figure in social work and mental health policy research. My interest in this problem developed from my practice as a mental health provider during the COVID-19 pandemic, wanting to ask, “what next” after rapid digitalization? I developed a broad familiarity with various technologies used for telehealth, including virtual reality and chatbots, monitored online communities of mental health practitioners, and reviewed relevant regulations, policies, and guidelines. I encouraged social workers and other mental health providers to develop a critical appreciation of new technologies in their sociotechnical contexts, to consider the influence of the technology industry on healthcare, and to adopt foresight thinking to consider new possibilities for how to configure their professional identities.