By Dakota Galvin, 四虎影视 College of Arts and Sciences
Elena Lesley, an anthropology professor with 四虎影视鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences, is leading research on the evolving role of digital health, particularly telehealth, in providing mental health care to hard-to-reach populations.
Lesley鈥檚 path to this research began two decades ago, when she first traveled to Cambodia to work as a journalist. At the time, the country was still emerging from decades of conflict that only officially ended in the late 1990s. Reporting on legal proceedings against leaders of the notorious Khmer Rouge regime, she became acutely aware of a less visible but equally pressing challenge 鈥� the limited access to mental health services for survivors.
Cambodia鈥檚 struggle to provide mental health care mirrors broader challenges in post-conflict societies and low-resource settings worldwide. Not only are populations left to confront the psychological scars of war, but oftentimes they are also impacted by destruction of physical and human infrastructure. This means resources are not only scarce 鈥� people must also conduct difficult and expensive travel in order to access them.
鈥淚n 2017鈥�2019, I worked with local mental health care providers who were treating Khmer Rouge survivors in rural communities," Lesley explained. "Back then, most care was delivered in person. But just as I wrapped up my fieldwork and began writing my dissertation from the U.S., the pandemic hit. Everything changed."
While remote treatment existed before, the sudden shutdown accelerated its adoption. Health care workers had to pivot quickly, shifting to digital strategies as travel restrictions limited in-person care.
鈥淚 was really impressed by their innovation and resourcefulness, and that served as the initial inspiration for my current project on digital mental health,鈥� Lesley said.
Now, her research focuses on how new digital tools are reshaping mental health care 鈥� particularly how these technologies affect the relationships between patients and providers.
鈥淭here鈥檚 an old saying, that 鈥榥ecessity is the mother of invention,鈥� and in this sense, Cambodia is a particularly compelling locale to undertake this research,鈥� Lesley explained. 鈥淭he widespread devastation of existing systems has often led to creative uptake of new technologies.鈥�
Local NGO workers provide mental health training resources to rural populations using laptops. (Photo courtesy of Elena Lesley)
One surprising finding from her pilot research last summer was that digital communication often fostered deeper connections than in-person therapy, challenging assumptions about distance-based care.
鈥淚 had assumed that people would find therapy delivered through digital platforms to be less personal, but I found that many participants actually felt digital forms of communication created closer, more intimate relationships,鈥� Lesley said. 鈥淚鈥檓 interested to look more into why this might be the case.鈥�
What started as an interest in political systems soon evolved into a deep commitment to understanding how trauma and mental health care intersect in post-conflict societies. Lesley鈥檚 work is helping highlight how telehealth and digital strategies can serve low-resource communities 鈥� not just in Cambodia 鈥� but around the world and even in the United States. She noted that digital methods have increasingly been used in recent years to provide mental health support to U.S. veterans in rural areas.
鈥淎t its heart, I see anthropology as a field that tries to build mutual understanding, and to learn about human differences as a broader effort to improve the conditions of humanity as a whole,鈥� Lesley said.
鈥淲e have a lot to learn from each other.鈥�