Speech pathologists’ perspectives on transitioning to telepractice: What factors promote acceptance?

Abstract

Disclosure statement:Declaration of competing interests: Authors RR and CF are employed by an organization that delivers telepractice for speech pathology services and through whom all participants were recruited. Author JM is employed by an organization that works with clinicians, consumers and mangers to design and promote better health care, including via telehealth. Funding:The authors received no financial for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Implementation of the telepractice program which participants delivered services under was supported by funding from a Bupa Health Foundation Grant awarded to Royal Far West. SummaryLittle is understood about factors that influence speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') acceptance of telepractice. The aim of this study was to investigate SLPs' perceptions and experiences of transitioning to a school-based telepractice service to identify factors that contributed to positive clinician attitudes. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 SLPs who recently commenced providing school-based telepractice services. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim, and thematic analysis was used to interpret interviews, with themes compared and contrasted across the group. Results indicated that although SLPs reported initially having mixed feelings towards telepractice, they later evaluated telepractice positively and viewed it as a legitimate service delivery mode. The overarching theme was that positive beliefs about telepractice were associated with perceptions of its consistency with the underlying principles of face-to-face therapy. In evaluating telepractice, SLPs considered: (a) therapeutic relationships with children; (b) collaboration with parents and teachers; (c) adequacy of technology and resources; and (d) access to support for learning telepractice. Therapy assistants and specific clinician attributes emerged as key strategies used to manage threats to acceptability. Preparation of SLPs transitioning to telepractice should address factors that support positive experiences with, and attitudes towards, telepractice to ensure that training achieves the greatest, most sustained change.

Speech–language pathology telehealth in rural and remote schools: the experience of school executive and therapy assistants

“…The telehealth program should have sufficient mechanisms for delegation, collaboration, teamwork and feedback for maximising an effective TA and SLP partnership. This is consistent with the literature 31,40 .…”

Speech and language screening for children with medical complexity: A comparison of telepractice and in-person methods

“…This is consistent with other studies that have found that exposure to telepractice is associated with more positive beliefs regarding its use (175,176,182,183,219). Tucker (175) has suggested that SLPs with greater awareness, experience, and confidence in the use of telepractice will be more willing to implement it with their patients.…”

“…• negative perceptions (175,176,180) • reduced understanding (176,180) • a lack of training (179,180,183) • a need for assessment and therapy tools that have been adapted for the telepractice environment (175,182,183) • a desire for more professional standards, research evidence, and guidelines (175,176,178,180,182) • concerns about equipment and technology (175,(178)(179)(180)(181)(182)(183) • a lack of information and communications technology (ICT) support (182) • concerns about time required for consults, and to establish a telepractice service (176,179) • a lack of funding and difficulty with reimbursement (175,176,(178)(179)(180)182) • concerns about patient confidentiality (176)…”

“…Paediatric SLPs identified an additional barrier: concerns regarding their ability to build relationships with children, caregivers, and teachers during telepractice consults (175,183).…”

“…It is encouraging to see in the literature that many SLPs hope to use telepractice in the future despite these barriers (176,178,180,181), and that the majority of current users view telepractice positively (175,183) and would like to use it more often with their patients (176,182). No studies have reported data regarding rates of telepractice adoption among SLPs who work in tertiary children's hospitals, so it is not clear how many CMC currently receive telepractice services, or what the specific challenges and opportunities are for telepractice use among this group of children.…”