Psychotherapy engagement before and after a rapid transition to telehealth during COVID-19 for older adults with dementia Journal Article uri icon
Overview
abstract
  • Objective: To understand the impact of the transition to telehealth during COVID-19 on psychotherapy visits for patients with dementia. Method: Retrospective study of older adults with dementia who had at least one psychotherapy visit in the 9 months before and after the onset of COVID-19 at 3 U.S. health systems. Care disruptions were gaps of 45+ days. Descriptive statistics and logistic mixed-effects models examined factors associated with care disruption. Results: 4953 patients with dementia made 19,902 psychotherapy visits. Gaps in psychotherapy were less frequent during COVID-19 (29.4%) than before (48.9%), with the odds of a patient experiencing a care disruption during COVID-19 0.54 times the odds prior to COVID-19 (95% CI: 0.50-0.59). Almost all patient subgroups had lower adjusted odds of care disruption during COVID-19. Discussion: There were fewer disruptions in psychotherapy care following the rapid shift to virtual care. Telehealth may be a viable option for patients with dementia.

  • Link to Article
    publication date
  • 2025
  • published in
    Research
    keywords
  • Aging and Geriatrics
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections
  • Dementia
  • Psychotherapy
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Telemedicine
  • Additional Document Info
    volume
  • 44
  • issue
  • 2