Considerations for paediatric student-led telepractice in speech-language therapy: A pilot observational study from South Africa

CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: Our findings indicate that telepractice pedagogy needs to be explicitly taught and students require practical assistance as they learn how to use this service delivery approach effectively. There are some aspects peculiar to telepractice that require unique consideration and planning, especially in contexts where service providers and users may be unfamiliar with this form of service provision. The findings of this pilot study can be used by clinical educators and student clinicians to enhance clinical training opportunities involving telepractice.WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: What is already known on this subject Many speech-language therapy (SLT) student clinicians had to transition quickly to telepractice service provision during COVID-19 with limited existing guidelines and support, especially in contexts where teletherapy is typically non-existent or difficult to access. Although there is some literature available on experiences of telepractice, there is very little evidence-based research which explores the mechanics of such sessions in real-time and which offers practical support to student clinicians and clinical educators engaging in this mode of service delivery. What this study adds This pilot study examined video-recorded, student-led, paediatric, speech-language teletherapy sessions to understand challenges and considerations involved in using telepractice as a clinical training tool. Findings show that additional preparation for telepractice ...
Source: International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Source Type: research