The impact of workplace factors on evidence-based speech-language pathology practice for children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract

Although researchers have examined barriers to implementing evidence-based practice (EBP) at the level of the individual, little is known about the effects workplaces have on speech-language pathologists’ implementation of EBP. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of workplace factors on the use of EBP amongst speech-language pathologists who work with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study sought to (a) explore views about EBP amongst speech-language pathologists who work with children with ASD, (b) identify workplace factors which, in the participants’ opinions, acted as barriers or enablers to their provision of evidence-based speech-language pathology services, and (c) examine whether or not speech-language pathologists’ responses to workplace factors differed based on the type of workplace or their years of experience. A total of 105 speech-language pathologists from across Australia completed an anonymous online questionnaire. The results indicate that, although the majority of speech-language pathologists agreed that EBP is necessary, they experienced barriers to their implementation of EBP including workplace culture and support, lack of time, cost of EBP, and the availability and accessibility of EBP resources. The barriers reported by speech-language pathologists were similar, regardless of their workplace (private practice vs organization) and years of experience.

Keywords::

• Evidence-based practice (EBP)
• communication treatment
• autism
• workplace factors

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the speech-language pathologists who participated in this study for volunteering their time to share their views and experiences regarding factors that influence the uptake and implementation of evidence-based speech-language pathology practice for individuals with ASD. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their constructive feedback.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.