How Does Teletherapy Benefit a Speech-Language Pathologist?
Now that many speech-language pathologists have been forced to transition to teletherapy, many SLPs are finding they want to keep doing teletherapy in tandem with in-person services due to how it makes their lives so much easier. However, there are a lot of benefits for speech-language pathologists as well!
Many people need a wide variety of medical and therapeutic services and have been restricted by stay-at-home orders or other restrictions to protect their own health or that of others. While teletherapy is not going to be the perfect solution for every client, it is important for speech-language pathologists to consider how telepractice fits into their plans for the future.
Many clients will want a combination of in-person services and teletherapy or might at times have teletherapy be their only option.
If an SLP isn’t prepared to provide teletherapy, that client may have to look elsewhere to achieve their therapy goals. There’s a number of reasons for therapists to embrace telepractice as well.
Many Patients want teletherapy but too many SLPs are not offering it
Even with these rapid changes, less than 27% of therapist’s services are being delivered due to COVID-19, leaving many patients without the direction they need to obtain their therapy goals, potentially setting them back months in development.
Despite this low percentage, 78% of patients actually embrace virtual services. This gap in supply and demand begs the question: why aren’t more SLPs offering their services virtually, especially in a time like this?
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While expanding to teletherapy practice can initially seem intimidating, there are many benefits that serve the SLP and their patients. Increased flexibility, higher career satisfaction, wider patient reach, and enhanced personal well-being are just a few examples.
Effectiveness of Teletherapy: Perception vs Reality
Studies show that teletherapy is just as effective as traditional, in-person therapy and this $6 billion dollar industry will only continue to expand. However, some obstacles still remain with regard to public perception of teletherapy, as according to the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology:
“Treatment outcome data and parental reports verified that the teletherapy service delivery was feasible and acceptable. However, it was also evident that regular discussion and communication between the various stakeholders involved in teletherapy programs may promote increased parental engagement and acceptability.”
So why aren’t more SLPs doing Teletherapy?
Much of the resistance to teletherapy is because SLPs do not have the confidence to express to their clients that teletherapy can be just as effective as in-person services.
At STAi, we believe confidence starts with having the right tools and knowing how to utilize them!
It is the job of the SLP to be informed on not only how to practice teletherapy effectively, but also to educate the patients and stakeholders on how it can be effective in order to help their patients achieve their goals.
Click here to see the 16 Reasons why an SLP should add Teletherapy to their practice
