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While many practitioners have been using telehealth systems for years, many have as yet to begin using patient gateways to augment their services, in-person or through telehealth systems. The following article is written as a series of articles explaining how to integrate an emerging technology into one’s clinical practice and how to do so in a culturally appropriate manner. First, the emerging topic selected is that of patient gateways or portals. Because patient gateways have been visible in medical spheres throughout many parts of the United States for almost a decade, the article below illustrates how the jump can be made from medical applications of this emerging technology to behavioral ones. Secondly, a case study format will be used below to describe the many benefits of using a patient gateway with a behavioral health client dealing with addiction. The following addiction telehealth scenario involves a recently immigrated Nigerian wife and mother struggling with opioid addiction. It will set the stage to illustrate how a culturally sensitive, 21st Century counselor or psychotherapist can best leverage increasingly available technologies to help a young woman requesting urgently needed assistance.
Case Conceptualization: Adebola’s Recovery Using Addiction Telehealth & a Patient Gateway
Adebola, a 31-year-old Nigerian immigrant, grappled with opioid addiction and depression after sustaining severe injuries in an automobile accident. She had migrated to the United States the year prior with her husband and 2-year-old son. Feeling isolated and out of control with her pain medication, she reluctantly sought help from a primary care physician.
She was treated medically and referred to a mental health professional specializing in addiction telehealth who worked in an…
