UMaine Accepting New Clients for Speech Therapy Telepractice Services

UMaine Accepting New Clients for Speech Therapy Telepractice Services

A new speech therapy program at the University of Maine is training graduate students in the latest in telepractice services and providing cost-effective outreach to underserved children and adults in rural areas throughout Maine and around the world.

UMaine’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders has developed the Web-based speech therapy telepractice training program to give graduate students the competencies that are revolutionizing the delivery of healthcare worldwide.

“We have created one of the first nationwide speech therapy telepractice training programs,” says Judy Walker, a UMaine communication sciences and disorders associate professor who developed the program in collaboration with Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, Maine, which has offered speech therapy telepractice for five years.

The UMaine program is one of only a few programs in the country that offers speech therapy telepractice training at the college level. Speech therapy telepractice, which involves almost no travel expense, expands the reach of therapy services to more people in Maine, where there is a severe shortage of speech therapists.

The program uses a secure, password-protected Web-based platform that allows virtual face-to-face therapy between service providers and clients. Clients can be assisted by “e-Helpers” — family, friends or caregivers. All that is needed is a computer with a webcam and broadband Internet access, located in a private setting, such as a home, school, clinic or community center.

The UMaine graduate training program in speech therapy telepractice, based in the Madelyn E. and Albert D. Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center in Dunn Hall on campus, complies with American Speech-Language-Hearing Association guidelines for demonstrating competencies and skills in speech telepractice services, which standardizes the training of the UMaine graduates.

New clients are now being accepted for speech therapy telepractice services. Telepractice is covered by many insurance plans, including MaineCare. More information is online (umaine.edu/telespeech); appointments are available by calling the Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center, 207.581.2006.