Walker Receives Grant to Expand Speech Therapy Telepractice Program
Judy Walker, an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Maine, received a three-year $174,000 grant from Next Generation Foundation of Maine to support the expansion of an innovative graduate-level training program in speech therapy telepractice.
The UMaine Speech Therapy Telepractice program, which started in 2011, uses a secure Web-hosted video conferencing system to provide speech therapy services to adults and children anywhere and at any time through computers or other devices connected by high speed internet.
Telepractice is an efficient way to provide speech therapy services to underserved children and adults with disabilities in the state while reducing costs, Walker says.
The grant will go toward hiring additional supervisors and increasing the number of graduate students who are able to train, while providing services to more people in need of speech therapy services.
“We want to branch out and develop partnerships with community health centers, public schools and state organizations in Maine,” Walker says.
The first phase of the program was successfully completed with positive clinical outcomes, according to Walker. The program was piloted on children and adults with a variety of communication disorders including aphasia, apraxia of speech, fluency disorder, articulation and language delay and voice disorders. Telepractice services were provided to eight areas in Maine throughout Aroostook, Penobscot, Kennebec, Cumberland and York counties, as well as to a school in Fiji.
More than 90 percent of the clients made satisfactory progress toward achieving their therapy goals, Walker says. On a consumer satisfaction survey, more than 90 percent said the program met their expectations and they were satisfied with the outcomes. All of the clients said they would recommend the program to others.
“Thus far, the telepractice program has exceeded my expectations,” Walker said. “This grant will now enable us to help even more people in the state.”
The UMaine Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders is one of only a few programs in the country that offers speech therapy telepractice training in a university setting, she says. The program complies with American Speech-Language-Hearing Association guidelines for demonstrating competencies and skills in speech telepractice services.
The department hopes the program will serve as a model for other CSD graduate programs, and Walker has already consulted with faculty at a North Dakota institution to build a speech therapy telepractice program of their own.
The University of Maine Speech Therapy Telepractice program is accepting new clients this fall. Telepractice is covered by many insurance plans, including MaineCare. For more information or to make an appointment, call the University of Maine, Madelyn E. & Albert D. Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center, 207.581.2003, or visit the telepractice website.