Authors (including presenting author) :
Mo SY (1), Hau FW (1), Liu TC (1), Poon E (1)
Affiliation :
(1)Speech Therapy Department, United Christian Hospital
Introduction :
Speech therapy outpatient clinic provides assessment and treatment to children with speech and language disorders. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, outpatient attendance in UCH ST clinic was reduced due to high default rate and frequent rescheduling. Since April 2020, telecare service was carried out to provide an alternative mode of training.
Objectives :
1. To explore the feasibility of providing telecare ST service in the hospital setting.
2. To reflect on the opportunities and limitations of providing telecare service, and provide insight on future service delivery model.
Methodology :
Pediatric patients who defaulted ST outpatient appointments and their caregivers were provided alternatives to receive telecare ST service. These patients were previously diagnosed with speech and language disorders and actively receiving ST treatment. Case therapists provided speech-language training and caregiver education according to previously set treatment goals via video conferencing platforms. Home practice materials were sent to caregivers after the sessions.
Result & Outcome :
Due to the increasing use of online teaching amidst the pandemic, most caregivers acquired basic computer skills and welcomed the alternative of telecare ST service. Majority of the treatment sessions was conducted via Zoom platform, which enabled video-conferencing, screen sharing and document exchange functions.
Feedback from case therapists was consolidated. The duration of each session shall be adjusted according to the child’s attention span and motivation. Our experience found that younger children and children with attention deficits could not engage in the session for 30 minutes due to difficulty to build rapport, conduct hands-on activities and provide tangible reinforcement. Older children with experience in online teaching engaged more actively in telecare sessions and were less reliant on extrinsic reinforcement. Therapists encountered difficulty to provide additional gestural and tactile promptings to support child’s speech sound production. Therapist’s judgement of speech production might be hindered by suboptimal internet and microphone quality. Caregivers also had a crucial role as a facilitator and they generally required further knowledge in troubleshooting technical issues, managing child’s behaviours and providing reinforcement to maximize child’s participation in online sessions. A wider search on culturally appropriate virtual therapy games is important to improve users’ experience. A mixed-service delivery model that incorporates both face-to-face and telecare components shall be explored.
