ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Evaluate accessibility, effectiveness, acceptability and efficiency of a student- assisted teleaudiology model of care in a regional hospital in Queensland, Australia. DESIGN: Prospective mixed method service evaluation study. STUDY SAMPLE: Demographic, service and satisfaction data were collected from 233 patients (children aged ≥5 and adults) who received teleaudiology assessment. Satisfaction data was collected from 27 hospital clinic staff (medical, nursing and clinic assistants) and 28 university audiology clinical educator participants. Experience and satisfaction data were collected from 16 teleaudiology clinic university students. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS software. Qualitative data were analysed using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Following introduction of the teleaudiology service in 2017 and evaluation during the first 6 months, 95% of patients were able to access audiology assessments on the same day as their Ear, Nose and Throat appointments. New referrals to the service were seen within a month. The audiology assessment battery was completed 95% of the time within an average of 33 minutes by the end of the study period. Patients, hospital and university staff and students reported high satisfaction with their experiences of teleaudiology, including its convenience and efficiency. CONCLUSIONS: A student-assisted teleaudiology model of care can deliver accessible, effective, and efficient services with high levels of satisfaction by participants.
Subject(s)
Audiology , Adult , Child , Humans , Prospective Studies , Audiometry , Students , AustraliaABSTRACT
Scope: In March 2020, COVID-19 restrictions prompted services delivered by student-led clinics in the university sector to transition to telehealth. This provided a unique opportunity to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by clinical educators when supervising students to deliver telehealth. Methodology: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with allied health clinical educators who supervised students on clinical placement who were required to provide services via telehealth. Clinical educators across the disciplines of audiology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology were asked to reflect on their experiences and perceptions of the rapid transition to a telehealth model for student clinical placements. A content analysis approach was used to analyse qualitative data. Conclusions: From the perspective of clinical educators, student-led telehealth services can effectively meet client needs while achieving student learning outcomes. This study highlights many opportunities for student learning via telehealth in the clinical education environment and the role of the clinical educator in the learning experience.
