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This book focuses on the critical area of delivering mental health services in rural settings. It is designed as a practical guide to the technological provision of timely, effective, evidence-based care, helpful to the novice and the experienced practitioner alike. The benefits of this approach are: Improved access to and improved quality of careTechnical support for providers and administratorsA means of providing missing specialty careAn ability to maximize scarce resources and significant flexibility for health service delivery. The book will cover how to adjust therapeutic skills to patients'needs, models of care and the particular technology used. It shows how rudimentary design of workflow can assist in integrating care, and highlights the importance of allowing for cultural needs (both rural geography and ethnic/race). Administrative issues are also addressed (e.g., privacy, reimbursement). The chapters are short and designed for maximum practicality, including learning objectives, cases and summaries emphasizing “what to do and how to do it.”

This book describes the use of telecommunication technologies to provide mental health services to individuals in communities or locations that are underserviced, typically as a result of their geographic isolation or due to cultural and/or linguistic barriers. The potential of the e-Mental Health approach is demonstrated in various mental health settings by describing concrete clinical examples and applications involving novel strategies for employing technology. Further, the book presents an approach to cooperation on a global level based on the exchange of expertise and knowledge across national boundaries. The target audience includes mental health workers (clinicians and staff members), medical and nursing students, academic researchers, technology professionals and health care policy makers.