Comparative Analysis of Paper vs Online Stuttering Severity Rating Scales used in the Lidcombe Program: A pilot Study at a Regional Community Health Centre

Abstract

The Lidcombe Program was developed in the 1980s for children who stutter. This program relies on the efficacy of caregivers in managing their child's stutter within everyday environments, including rating the severity of their child's stuttering on a daily basis. The aim of this pilot project was to compare the traditional paper-based severity rating (SR) system to a newly developed online SR system and, in the context of one regional community health service, report on the outcomes of novel components such as the daily reminder text message. A descriptive comparative analysis was utilised to assess the opinions of participants on the two SR systems by using an online questionnaire. All participants (n = 7) preferred the online SR system compared to the paper-based SR system and in particular found the feature of an evening daily SMS text message to be useful in reminding them to rate their child's stuttering severity. This small pilot study demonstrated that adding a relatively small initiative to an established program can have a considerable impact on the monitoring of adherence to therapy in a small community health care service.

Keywords::

• Community Health Care Service
• Lidcombe Program
• Severity Rating Systems
• Stuttering

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Karen Missen

Dr Karen Missen is a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing at Federation University Australia.

Adrienne Robinson

Adrienne Robinson is a speech pathologist in children's services at LaTrobe Community Health Service.

Amy Tucker

Amy Tucker is a speech pathologist in the children's services program at LaTrobe Community Health Service.