Masters Degrees (Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy)

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Browsing Masters Degrees (Speech-Language and Hearing Therapy) by Author "Dhaya, Anisha"

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    Adult dysphagia intervention through telepractice : a scoping review
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-04) Dhaya, Anisha; Klop, Daleen; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dept. of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences. Speech Language and Hearing Therapy.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Background: Dysphagia is a serious, life-endangering disorder, experienced by an increasing number of people. Worldwide, there are a limited number of healthcare professionals to provide face-to-face dysphagia intervention. Telepractice has been suggested as a potential solution. The question this scoping review aimed to answer is: How is telepractice applied to adult dysphagia intervention? Objective: To explore the application of telepractice to adult dysphagia intervention, at a national and international level. Inclusion criteria: Data was restricted to literature where participants involved were over the age of 18 years, and experiencing feeding and/or swallowing difficulties at that point in time. The core concepts were telepractice, and adult dysphagia intervention. Sources were only included if published during or after the year 2000, and full text was available in English. Experts were consulted to determine the challenges to implementation in South Africa, based on the results obtained. Experts were required to be: registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa, providers of adult dysphagia intervention on a weekly basis for the last five years, practice in the Western Cape and be able to communicate effectively in English. Search strategy: The following Boolean search string was used to search 18 databases on 20 April 2018: (Telehealth OR Telecare OR Telemedicine OR Telepractice OR Teletherapy OR Telerehabilitation OR Telestroke OR Tele-dysphagia OR Tele-intervention OR “Telephone intervention” OR “Video conferencing”) and (Dysphagia OR Swallow* OR Feeding OR Deglutition) not (Child* Or Paediatric OR Pediatric OR Adolescent OR Infant). Extraction of results: Results were screened by title, and abstract to remove irrelevant articles. Remaining articles were screened by full text by the researcher and an inter-rater. Consensus was reached on which articles to include. The reference lists of these articles were screened by title and identified titles were screened by abstract and full text where necessary. The final selection of studies was charted according to the following categories: author(s), year of publication, location of study, areas of intervention, method of telepractice (equipment, procedure, internet requirements, and duration), and key findings. Presentation of results: Twenty-two articles were included. Dysphagia management was detailed in six articles. Specifically, three focused on rehabilitative management, two on compensatory management, and two on unspecified management. Instrumental assessment, was detailed in eight of the studies. Six studies focused on clinical swallow examinations, two on screening, and one on case history. Two studies focused on dysphagia assessment in general. One study focused on referral. Experts identified lack of resources, poor internet access, and lack of legislature about reimbursement, as key challenges. Proposed solutions included: using existing equipment, free Wi-Fi or USSD programmes, and developing reimbursement policies. Conclusions: Telepractice shows promising opportunities for adult dysphagia intervention with regards to screening, assessment, management and referral. Studies are still required to investigate the use of telepractice in prevention, health promotion and counselling pertaining to adult dysphagia. There is a need for policy development regarding reimbursement of dysphagiarelated telepractice services. Experts believe adult dysphagia intervention can be provided using telepractice in South Africa, if adapted to the needs of our context.