Telepsychiatry Services for Tribal Communities

According to a 2010 report published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), some of the barriers Native American people face when attempting to access behavioral health care are similar to those faced by most people and include the following:

economic barriers (cost, lack of insurance)
lack of awareness about mental health issues and services
stigma associated with mental illness

Additional access‐to‐care issues Native Americans must face include:

lack of education and pervasive poverty
lack of culturally appropriate services
mistrust with which many Native Americans relate to their health care providers
continuing lack of accurate data and research on Native Americans
lack of appropriate intervention strategies (including integration of mental health and primary health care services)
mental health professional shortages and high turnover

The availability of mental health services is severely limited by the rural, isolated location of many Native American communities. Additionally, most clinics and hospitals administered by the Indian Health Service are still located on reservations however; the majority of Native Americans no longer reside on reservations.

The APA suggests that technology (e.g. telepsychiatry) use be increased to better meet the mental health needs of remote populations. FasPsych will work with health care providers in tribal communities to develop and implement services to meet the behavioral health needs of people they serve.

How to Get Started

To learn more about how FasPsych's telepsychiatry services can benefit your organization, give us a call at (480) 970-9097, or fill out our brief online questionnaire to expedite your service needs.

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