Paper Type
Complete
Paper Number
PACIS2026-2020
Description
Despite the rapid expansion of telehealth globally, there is limited research explaining how mental health providers sustain telepractice in everyday work, particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as the Philippines. Using Classic Grounded Theory, this study explores the experiences of Filipino telemental health providers delivering psychiatric and psychological services through digital platforms. The result is a substantive process theory that identifies sustaining telepractice as the practitioners’ main concern. To address this, providers engage in a recurring process called recalibrating boundaries, through which they adjust professional limits across communication, scheduling, technological, and clinical domains. Boundary recalibration unfolds through structuring, restricting, and stabilizing practices that regulate exposure generated by expanding digital care. The findings further show that telepractice sustainability unfolds through cyclical patterns of destabilization, recalibration, and recovery. The study contributes to Information Systems research by explaining how digitally mediated professional work remains viable under conditions of persistent digital exposure.
Recommended Citation
Naga, january Febro and SISON, RAYMUND C., "Recalibrating Boundaries: How Telemental Health Providers Sustain Telepractice" (2026). PACIS 2026 Proceedings. 24.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2026/ishealthcare/ishealthcare/24
Recalibrating Boundaries: How Telemental Health Providers Sustain Telepractice
Despite the rapid expansion of telehealth globally, there is limited research explaining how mental health providers sustain telepractice in everyday work, particularly in low- and middle-income countries such as the Philippines. Using Classic Grounded Theory, this study explores the experiences of Filipino telemental health providers delivering psychiatric and psychological services through digital platforms. The result is a substantive process theory that identifies sustaining telepractice as the practitioners’ main concern. To address this, providers engage in a recurring process called recalibrating boundaries, through which they adjust professional limits across communication, scheduling, technological, and clinical domains. Boundary recalibration unfolds through structuring, restricting, and stabilizing practices that regulate exposure generated by expanding digital care. The findings further show that telepractice sustainability unfolds through cyclical patterns of destabilization, recalibration, and recovery. The study contributes to Information Systems research by explaining how digitally mediated professional work remains viable under conditions of persistent digital exposure.
Comments
14-Healthcare