Advancing telehealth equity through digital health care literacy: Perspectives of speech-language pathologists in the US

This study explores the impact of digital health care literacy of individuals with communication disorders on speech-language pathologists’ intention to use telehealth. A convergent mixed methodology design was employed. Quantitative data were collected from 183 speech-language pathologists representing clinical, educational, and medical settings across the USA, while qualitative insights were obtained through semi-structured interviews with 25 participants. Quantitative analyses revealed significant group differences in perceived digital health care literacy among telehealth users (F = 6.23, p < .01). However, digital health care literacy was not a statistically significant predictor of the speech-language pathologists’ intention to use telehealth. (β = 0.01, t= .12, p > .05). Qualitative findings illuminated four interrelated themes, among these, organisational support and client characteristics emerged as particularly prominent factors influencing telehealth success. This study demonstrates that while speech-language pathologists recognise the value of telehealth, its effective implementation is constrained by digital health care literacy and technological readiness of clients.