Are We Losing Human Connection?

Assessing Quality of Care with the Online Transition for Counselling Services in Canada

It is no secret that the transition to an online lifestyle has not come easy. Given the impact of COVID-19 and a novel “indoor lifestyle”, organizations have resulted in developing ways to transition to the online format. As a result, health care providers, such as counsellors, have provided care through a virtual format; zoom, FaceTime, phone call, email, etc. The purpose of this survey is to investigate the impact in quality of care as a result of the online transition by understanding the views of service providers and clients.

In order to gauge how counsellors and their clients across Canada have responded to the transition from in-person to online services over the pandemic, for our project, we created and distributed two surveys - one for counsellors and one for youth counsellees aged 12-24. Each of us in Cohort 8 reached out to their own personal networks to distribute the survey. Respondents were informed of the purpose of our research and were also required to provide informed consent before beginning the survey. Answers remained anonymous, and no personally identifying information (including names, locations, centres, age, etc.) was recorded/used. Any information that was recorded was collected in accordance with the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). 

In terms of the surveys themselves, questions were designed according to 4 main categories, which represented areas that could potentially be affected by the transition to online counselling services: Accessibility, Effectiveness, Privacy/Professionalism, and Personal Impact. Both surveys each consisted of a combination of 7-point Likert scale questions and optional short answer questions that provided respondents with an opportunity to offer any additional thoughts they might have had. Questions and patient satisfaction considerations were created based on the Andersen’s Behavioral Model, a popular indicator of quality in service delivery and individual healthcare.

It was shown that the online experience for counsellors: 

• Improved opportunity for connecting with clients given that they are free to connect through in-person or virtual services.

  Caused troubles with hearing, seeing, and fully understanding clients throughout the session(s). This is inclusive of body language.

  Caused difficulty building trust and rapport with clients is recognized as a major area of concern with online services.

  Resulted in sessions lasting longer than in-person due to home distractions/interruptions.

It was shown that the online experience for counselees:  

• Improved accessibility and saved time and money for those who would pay for travel.

  Negatively affected care as difficult to develop rapport.

  Allowed some to feel more comfortable as they were in a safe place, while others experienced the opposite.

  Was easy for those who already had developed a relationship with their counsellor prior to the pandemic.

Creators

Cohort Lead: Braeden

Cohort Host: Ervis

Raffela, Sierra, Honor, & Taylor