Impact of school-based allied health therapy via telehealth on children's speech and language, class participation and educational outcomes

Introduction Access to telehealth services for children living in rural and remote areas of Australia is very limited. The delivery of allied health therapies to children in school via telehealth may help reduce inequality and improve academic outcomes over time. Methods A service delivering speech and language therapy (SLT) and occupational therapy (OT) via videoconferencing to children at five rural schools was prospectively evaluated. Each child's teacher rated their speech and language, participation in class and educational outcomes at the beginning and end of semester. Change in the summative teacher-rating index over the first and subsequent semesters in which a child received therapy was examined. Independent predictors of change were identified using multivariable linear regression. Results Over two years, 1029 sessions of SLT and 531 sessions of OT were delivered to 98 children (67% male, 38% in Prep at commencement) via telehealth. In their first semester of therapy, 57 children received SLT, 37 OT and four both therapies. The mean teacher-rating index significantly improved from the beginning (35.05 +/- 10.68) to end (40.02 +/- 11.75) of the first semester of therapy (p < 0.001). In multivariable linear regression, grade, school and baseline rating were significantly associated with the end-of-semester teacher-rating index. Discussion Delivering allied health therapy by videoconference may enable children to better engage with schooling. Differences in improvements by grade suggest improvements may be maximised by targeting therapy at certain year levels. This model may be useful in areas with limited access to allied health services.