Perspectives of Speech-Language Pathologists on the Use of Telepractice in Schools: Quantitative Survey Results

Authors

  • Janice K. Tucker

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2012.6100

Abstract

This research surveyed 170 school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in one northeastern state, with only 1.8% reporting telepractice use in school-settings. These results were consistent with two ASHA surveys (2002; 2011) that reported limited use of telepractice for school-based speech-language pathology. In the present study, willingness to use telepractice was inversely related to age, perhaps because younger members of the profession are more accustomed to using technology.  Overall, respondents were concerned about the validity of assessments administered via telepractice; whether clinicians can adequately establish rapport with clients via telepractice; and if therapy conducted via telepractice can be as effective as in-person speech-language therapy. Most respondents indicated the need to establish procedures and guidelines for school-based telepractice programs.

  

Author Biography

Janice K. Tucker

Dr. Janice Tucker is a supervisor of special education at the Lincoln Intermediate Unit where she has served as the Supervisor of Speech-Language Support Programs for 14 years. She has over 30 years experience in the field of speech-language pathology. She obtained her BS from Ashland University, MS from Loyola College, and SLP.D from Nova Southeastern University. She holds the Certificate of Clinical Competence from ASHA. She serves as a Vice President on the Executive Board of PSHA. She is a member of SIGs 18 & 16.

References

Alverson, D., Holtz, B., D’lorio, J., DeVany, M., Simmons, S., & Poropatich, R. K. (2008). One size doesn’t fit all: Bringing telehealth services to special populations. Telemedicine and e-Health, 14, 957- 963. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2008.0115

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2002). Survey report on telepractice use among audiologists and speech-language pathologists. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/policy

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005a). Knowledge and skills needed by speech-language pathologists providing clinical services via telepractice. doi: 10.1044/policy.KS2005-00077. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/policy/KS2005-00077.htm

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005b). Speech-language pathologists providing clinical services via telepractice: Position statement. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/policy/PS2005-00116.htm

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2005c). Speech-language pathologists providing clinical services via telepractice: Technical report. doi: 10.1044/policy.TR2005-00152. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/docs/html/TR2005-00152.html

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2010). Professional issues in telepractice for speech-language pathologists. doi:10.1044/policy.PI2010-00315. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/policy/PI2010-00315.htm

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2011). 2011 Membership survey: CCC-SLP survey summary report: Number and type of responses. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/uploadedFiles/2011-Membership-Survey-CCC-SLP-Summary-Report.pdf

Benefield, N., & Runk, J. (2008). A primer on Pennsylvania Cyber Schools. Retrieved from http://www.uscharterschools.org/cs/r/lpt/uscs_rs/2421

Brady, A. (2007). Moving toward the future: Providing speech-language pathology services via telehealth. Home Healthcare Nurse, 25, 240-244.

Brown, J. (2009). Telepractice: The next generation. Presentation at Texas Speech-Language-Hearing Association (TSHA) Annual Convention. Retrieved from http://www.txsha.org/_pdf/Convention/09Convention/New%20Folder/Brown,%20Janet-Telepractice_The%20Next%20Generation.pdf

Buck, S. (2009). Nine human factors contributing to the user acceptance of telemedicine applications: A cognitive-emotional approach. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 15, 55–58. doi: 10.1258/jtt.2008.008007

Bulik, R. J. (2008). Human factors in primary care telemedicine encounters. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 14, 169-172. doi: 10.1258/jtt.2007.007041

Chumbler, N. R., Kobb, R., Brennan, D. M., & Rabinowitz, T. (2008). Recommendations for research design of telehealth studies. Telemedicine and e-Health, 14, 986- 989. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2008.0108

Creswell, J. W. (2008). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Publishing.

Creswell, J. W., & Plano-Clark, V. L. (2011). Designing and conducting mixed methods research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.

Dunkley, C., Pattie, L., Wilson, L., & McAllister, L. (2010). A comparison of rural speech-language pathologists’ and residents’ access to and attitudes towards the use of technology for speech-language pathology service delivery. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12, 333-343. doi: 10.3109/17549500903456607

Fink, A. (2003). The survey kit (2nd ed.).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Hill, A. J., Theodoros, D. G., Russell, T. F., Cahill, L. M., Ward, E. C., & Clark, K. M. (2006). An Internet-based telerehabilitation system for the assessment of motor speech disorders: A pilot study. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 15, 45-56. doi: 10.1044/1058-0360(2006/006)

Hill, A., & Theodoros, D. (2002). Research into telehealth applications in speech-language pathology. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 8, 187-196. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.ycp.edu:8000/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=4&hid=6&sid=ae1dc4fc-7f74-422b-b0a5-1b7884666ec7%40sessionmgr113

Houn, B., & Trottier, K. (2006, November 13). Meeting the challenge of rural service delivery. The ASHA Leader Online. Retrieved from http://www.asha.org/practice/telepractice/TelepracticeReferences.htm

Juenger, J. M. (2009a, July). Telepractice in speech/language: How to get there from here. Session presented at the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Schools Conference, Kansas City, MS.

Juenger, J. M. (2009b, September 22). Telepractice in the schools. The ASHA Leader, 14(12), 20-21.

Kelso, G. L., Fiechtl, B. J., Olsen, S. T., & Rule, S. (2009). The feasibility of virtual home visits to provide early intervention. Infants & Young Children, 22, 332-340.

Mashima, P. A., & Doarn, C. R., (2008). Overview of telehealth activities in speech-language pathology. Telemedicine and e-Health, 14, 1101-1117. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2008.0080

Meline, T. (2006). Research in communication science and disorders. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Müller, E. (2009). Serving students with disabilities in state-level virtual K-12 public school programs. Retrieved from Project Forum National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE) website: http://www.projectforum.org/docs/ServingStudentswithDisabilitiesinState-levelVirtualK-12PublicSchoolPrograms.pdf

National Center for Education Statistics. (2008). Number of full-time and part-time public school staff, by type of staff and state: 2007-08. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass0708_2009321_s1s_05.asp

Polovoy, C. (2008, July 15). Telepractice in schools helps address personnel shortages. The ASHA Leader, 13(9), 22-24.

Theodoros, D. G., (2008). Telerehabilitation for service delivery in speech-language pathology. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 14, 221-224. doi: 10.1258/jtt.2007.007044

Torrens, J. (2004). Utilization and reimbursement of telepractice among speech-language pathologists in upstate New York hospitals. Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3118195)

Whitten, P., & Love, B. (2005). Patient and provider satisfaction with the use of telemedicine: Overview and rationale for cautious enthusiasm. Journal of Postgraduate Medicine, 51, 294-300.

Whitten, P., & Holtz, B. (2008a). A series of papers for those yearning to propel telehealth to new heights. Telemedicine and e-Health, 14, 952-956. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2008.0129

Whitten, P., & Holtz, B. (2008b). Provider utilization of telemedicine: The elephant in the room. Telemedicine and e-Health, 14, 995-997. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2008.0126

Downloads

Published

2012-12-14

How to Cite

Tucker, J. K. (2012). Perspectives of Speech-Language Pathologists on the Use of Telepractice in Schools: Quantitative Survey Results. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 4(2). https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2012.6100

Issue

Vol. 4, No. 2, Fall 2012

Section

School Telepractice

License

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
    with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
  4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
  6. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
  7. The Author represents and warrants that:
    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
    4. the Work has not previously been published;
    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
  8. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link.