Southeast Idaho AHEC Publishes Telebehavioral Health Study

The Southeast Idaho Area Health Education Center is pleased to announce a new article, “Use of a Research as Intervention Approach to Explore Telebehavioral Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southeast Idaho,” published in the Journal of Primary Care and Community Health. 

This article explores qualitative research conducted during the pandemic, written by Executive Director Dr. Diana Schow, Ann Thomson, and two AHEC Scholars, Wilson Trusty and Laurel Buchi-Fotre.

Their work included producing a virtual care film, poster, and a sixteen-page report distributed to statewide policymakers, stakeholders, and legislators. CARES Act funding supported their research, which helped explain the complex and newly evolving use of telebehavioral health in southeast Idaho.

The aims of this study were to:

•  characterize Southeast Idaho primary care and behavioral health providers’

• experiences with virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic

•  generate policy- and practice-level recommendations regarding virtual care in this region that will address inequities in access to care

•  raise awareness of issues relevant to virtual care among community stakeholders who

• influence the implementation of this treatment modality in southeast Idaho

The project was assisted by the Research-as-Intervention Committee, who helped guide the research process and questions: Dr. Elizabeth Cartwright, PhD; Idaho State University Department of Anthropology; Dallas Clinger; CEO, Power County Hospital District; Rhonda D’Amico; Southeastern Idaho Public Health; Dr. Elizabeth Fore, PhD, M.Ed; Idaho State University Institute of Rural Health; Dr. Steve Lawyer, PhD; Idaho State University Department of Psychology; Dr. Julie Lyons, MD; St. Luke’s Wood River Family Medicine.

You can read the full article at:

https://www.isu.edu/seidahec/research-and-evaluations/virtual-care/