Telepractice and COVID-19 in Iceland

What is it about?

This study examined changes in speech-language pathology practice during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland. 53 speech-language pathologists (SLPs) answered the survey, which is 54.1% of all SLPs working in Iceland. During the COVID-19 pandemic speech-language pathology services in Iceland were reduced, but many SLPs were able to do some work. Services for children and people with life-long communication difficulties were most affected. More SLPs started using telepractice during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. SLPs saw a many advantages of telepractice that were about SLP service delivery and client accessibility. They also saw disadvantages. Telepractice was a good solution for maintaining clinical services in Iceland in response when usual in-person services are not possible.

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Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This study gives information about how speech-language pathologists worked in Iceland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding why speech-language pathologists used telepractice, and why they did not use telepractice, is important for planning professional education and planning services for the future.