A User's Guide for Understanding and Addressing Telepractice Technology Challenges via ZOOM

Abstract

Purpose Telepractice has been used as an alternative service delivery model in speech-language pathology across various settings and the scope of practice. Despite its utility and increasing demands resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic, some clinicians and clients continue to report apprehension to adopting telepractice service delivery model due to discomfort with technology. Among currently available telepractice platforms, “ZOOM” is one of the popular platforms among speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in the United States because of its usability and subscription cost. However, many challenges have been experienced by clinicians and clients when ZOOM is used. The purpose of this article was twofold. The first goal of this article was to address barriers and challenges to implement successful telepractice SLP services. The second goal of this article was to develop four step-by-step troubleshooting manuals (one for client and one for clinician in both English and Spanish) to enhance its utility for users. Conclusion Preliminary qualitative data showed that the manuals developed by the authors were useful and functional for graduate SLP students. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14044091

Another Moment in Time: A Follow-Up Survey on Speech-Language Pathologists' Experiences With the COVID-19 Pandemic During the Fall of 2020

“…However, SLPs also became more cognizant of the drawbacks of remote services, including issues related to motivation, attention, less personal connection, and general fatigue from learning from a screen. Some of the findings of this study regarding the pros and cons of virtual therapy are consistent with recent articles about teletherapy during the pandemic (e.g., McGill & Fiddler, 2021). Given the positives of teletherapy identified by SLPs during the pandemic, future special education administrators should partner with SLPs to identify possible and appropriate applications for remote services, even when teletherapy is no longer required for public health reasons.…”

Experience with Telemedicine in a Tertiary Academic Otologic Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…1 ). Video visits were conducted via Zoom Version 5.6.6 under a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant Zoom for Health Care license (Zoom Video Communications, Inc; San Jose, CA), mainly using application integrated real-time audio/video streaming and screenshare technologies with no supplemental technologies (e.g., video otoscopy) ( 19 ). Of note, not all patients between the study period had been offered video visits.…”

Experiences of South African speech–language therapists providing telepractice during the COVID‐19 pandemic: A qualitative survey

“…Although research suggests various benefits to using telepractice, there are difficulties associated with its implementation. Importantly, from a service user's perspective, although telepractice may promote access to services, telepractice can equally present barriers for marginalized groups, those who do not have access to technology and internet connectivity, and those without sufficient technological literacy (McGill & Fiddler, 2021). The use of technology is often reported as a barrier to telepractice implementation, for example: SLTs may struggle with selecting appropriate technology to use during assessment and intervention (Tambyraja et al., 2021); SLTs report a lack of experience and knowledge in the use of technology (Hines et al., 2019; Tambyraja et al., 2021); clients may have limited access to devices and internet data (Biggs et al., 2022; Hines et al., 2019) and limited knowledge of how to use them (Garbe et al., 2020); SLTs and clients may experience poor audio and video quality due to unstable network connections (Chaudhary et al., 2021); and clients (especially children) may require additional support when engaging and navigating technological devices used during telepractice (Biggs et al., 2022).…”