The perceptions, attitudes and experiences of service users with telehealth speech-language pathology services.

AIMS

To investigate the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of clients and caregivers towards telehealth Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) services.

METHODS

A comprehensive questionnaire was developed and validated to investigate the perceptions, attitudes, and experiences of service users towards telehealth services. The questionnaire included questions related to telehealth experience, client's preferences, and the perceived facilitators, barriers, advantages, and disadvantages of telehealth. Phone survey was used to collect data from clients and caregivers of clients who received telehealth SLP services during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

RESULTS

A total of 293 clients and caregivers participated in this study. The findings indicated that 97.95 % of the respondents reportedly received telehealth SLP services for the first time during the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly through video-communication (51.2 %), and for different clinical services, with therapy (31.04 %) and monitoring (31.28 %) being the highest services. Of the total respondents, 54.95 % felt that telehealth appointments were similar to in-person appointments. However, 41.30 % of the respondents preferred receiving in-person appointments. Statistical analyses indicated that eight factors were perceived by service users as significant primary facilitators of telehealth (e.g., good internet connection, available resources, experience with technology), whereas only three factors were perceived as significant primary barriers (e.g., poor image/sound quality, and client's communication impairments). Furthermore, 10 factors were perceived as significant primary advantages of telehealth (e.g., reduced cost and travel time), while only one factor was identified as a significant primary disadvantage (inability to conduct a physical examination).

CONCLUSIONS

Service users identified numerous advantages of telehealth, including improved access to healthcare, and reduced costs, while only one disadvantage was identified (lack of physical examinations). The perceived facilitators and barriers of telehealth by service users can be classified into technology-related factors (e.g., comfort with technology, internet connection) and client-related factors (e.g., client's cognitive and sensory abilities). These technology and client-related factors should be considered by policy makers and funding bodies while planning the establishment or expansion of telehealth services.