36 / 56
Technology
142
JCPSLP
Volume 14, Number 3 2012
Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology
develop and diversify within the 21st century”. Speech
pathologists are currently using telepractice for various
individual clinical purposes, for example, to assess speech
and language in children (Waite, Theodoros, Russell, &
Cahill, 2010), stuttering intervention (O’Brian, Packman, &
Onslow, 2008), and parent education (Baharav & Reiser,
2010). Other professionals are also utilising telepractice
to connect families – for example, child health nurses
facilitating a new mothers’ support group (Nyström &
Öhrling, 2006). The telepractice solutions described in this
paper illustrate how telepractice can be used to deliver
parent education groups to families living distantly from one
another.
Technology: changing the service
delivery options
The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children’s RIDBC
Teleschool is based in Sydney, NSW, and is a dedicated
team to support families with hearing and/or vision
impairment across Australia. RIDBC Teleschool offers
weekly telepractice sessions with a consultant via
videoconference to enrolled families. This is supported by
resources, lesson plans, phone calls, and emails as
required. In 2009 RIDBC Teleschool began using a
telepractice model to provide parent education groups to
rural and remote families.
The parent education groups were designed to create an
environment for remotely located families to support each
other while learning about communication. “It Takes Two to
Talk
®
: The Hanen Program
®
for Parents” (Conklin, Pepper,
Weitzman, & McDade, 2007) was chosen because it is a
family-focused early language intervention program with a
strong evidence base. The It Takes Two to Talk program is a
comprehensive package providing detailed instructions for
each group and individual session. It contains pre-prepared
PowerPoint slides, as well as various videos to share with
participants. Some group tasks suggest breaking the group
into pairs or fours to complete activities. Participants also
have individual sessions which are video-recorded so that
they can be replayed during the session to comment on
the interactions captured.There are two major issues to
consider when delivering It Takes Two to Talk to families
via telepractice: the availability of appropriate technology,
and adapting the It Takes Two to Talk program to suit
telepractice service delivery. Several options were trialled
with three different groups of parents, and are discussed
below.
Clinical insights
Adapting speech pathology practice: Delivering parent
education groups using technology
Corinne Loomes and Alice Montgomery
This paper discusses parent education
groups for families with children who have
sensory disabilities. Families living in rural
and remote areas participated in group
sessions via videoconference. The
technology required to provide parent groups
for families located across Australia is
discussed, with three different telepractice
methods reported. The parent groups used
The Hanen It Takes Two to Talk
®
program as
the structure of the parent groups, and the
adaptations required to use this existing
program in a telepractice format are
described.
M
any families with children who have disabilities
have limited or no access to support services
(Senate Committee, 2002). Metropolitan areas
offer some opportunities for these families to meet and
support one another, for example, playgroups for children
with disabilities, and parent education groups. Socialising
with other families provides support and can have a
powerful and positive impact (Crinc & Stormshak, 1997).
Families in similar situations can provide each other with
encouragement, understanding, and humour (Atkins,
2009). However, the reality for one-third of Australians is
that they live in rural and remote areas (Australian Bureau of
Statistics, 2009). Living outside of a metropolitan area can
mean that these families miss out on meeting with others to
share experiences.
Considering the fact that approximately 2 in 1000
children have significant permanent hearing loss (Russ et
al., 2003), it is easy to see how a specialised service for
hearing impaired children in remote locations might be
difficult to find. Where services are available, some of the
established difficulties for professionals working in remote
locations include: large and generalist caseloads; vast
distances to cover; difficulties accessing some areas due
to weather conditions; and high staff turnover (McCarthy,
2010). Telepractice can offer specialised services to be
delivered from large metropolitan centres and accessed by
all Australians.
Developments in technology enable services to be
provided using telepractice solutions previously not
possible. Theodoros (2011) suggests speech pathologists
need “to engage and embrace this change in order to
Corinne Loomes
(top) and Alice
Montgomery
Keywords
EARLY
INTERVENTION
PARENT
EDUCATION
PARENT GROUPS
TELEPRACTICE