Publication date: May 28, 2025

ObjectiveThe COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telepsychiatry use in New Zealand. This study aimed to survey New Zealand psychiatrists and trainees’ perception of their telepsychiatry competencies; the importance of these competencies when providing a culturally responsive telepsychiatry service; and to ascertain if the competency items converged to dimensions developed from a previous qualitative study. MethodsNew Zealand psychiatrists and trainees completed an anonymised online questionnaire comprising 20 competency statements. Participants rated each statement on a scale from 0 (low level competence/importance) to 100 (high level competence/importance): (1) How competent do you believe you are? (2) How important is this competency when providing a culturally responsive telepsychiatry service? A principal components factor analysis with Varimax Rotation was conducted on the importance ratings. ResultsEighty-six participants (47. 7% female) participated. The factor analysis revealed four new domains: Cultural Safety, Infrastructure and Technology, Professional Development and Ethics, and Clinical Practice. These new domains explained 64. 9% of the total variance. Their internal consistencies were acceptable (alpha≥0. 70) except for self-rated competence in the Clinical Practice domain (alpha = 0. 68). ConclusionThis competency framework could be used to develop educational curricula and training resources to improve culturally responsive telepsychiatry practice in Aotearoa.

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Original Article