Speech-language teletherapy practice: perceptions of Brazilian speech-language-hearing therapists

ABSTRACT Purpose: to verify Brazilian speech-language-hearing therapists’ perception of speech-language teletherapy. Methods: a qualitative/quantitative cross-sectional study. The 22 participants answered an online questionnaire on sociodemographic information, academic degree, occupation, and teletherapy experience. Absolute and relative frequencies in scale and multiple-choice answers were calculated, whereas the content of qualitative data was analyzed. Results: the mean age of the speech-language-hearing therapists was 28 years; 86.4% were females, and 63.3% graduated from public institutions. All participants (100%) reported knowing the guidelines prescribed by the Federal Speech-Language-Hearing Council. Most of them treated children (77.3%), with oral language procedures (54.5%); 59.1% faced difficulties, while 63.7% felt qualified to practice teletherapy. Conclusion: all participants said they knew speech-language teletherapy. Most of them reported that the topic was not addressed in their undergraduate studies; hence, they sought training from other sources to offer teleconsultation. Moreover, they reported that most patients agreed to continue with that type of care, although the number of new patients seeking treatment during the pandemic decreased.