Rural speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of working with allied health assistants

Abstract

Workforce shortages are forecast for speech-language pathology in Australia, and will have a more significant impact on rural and remote areas than on metropolitan areas. Allied health (AH) disciplines such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy address the problem of workforce shortages and growing clinical demand by employing allied health assistants (AHAs) to provide clinical and administrative support to AH professionals. Currently, speech-language pathologists (SLPs) don't work with discipline-specific allied health assistants in all states of Australia (e.g., New South Wales). This paper aims to provide insight into the perceptions of SLPs in one Australian state (NSW) regarding working with AHAs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight rural SLPs. Qualitative analysis indicated that participants perceived they had deficits in skills and knowledge required to work with AHAs and identified further training needs. Participants perceived the SLP role to be misunderstood and were concerned about poor consultation regarding the introduction of AHAs into the profession. Ambivalence was evident in overall perceptions of working with AHAs, and tasks performed. While previous research identified benefits of working with AHAs, results from this study suggest that significant professional, economic, and organizational issues need addressing before such a change should be implemented in speech-language pathology.

Keywords::

• Speech-language pathology
• pathologists
• allied health assistants (AHAs)
• workforce
• rural and remote
• perceptions

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participants who volunteered their time and valuable insights to contribute to this study.

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

The primary author acknowledges the financial support of the Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching (IRSCT) via a Rural Research Capacity Building scholarship.

Appendix: Sample interview questions

• What do you think about allied health assistants (AHAs) in speech-language pathology?

• Can you tell me about any previous experience you have had working with AHAs (if any)? (Prompts) Were there positive things about this? Negative things?

• In your area of work, what sort of tasks could be performed by an AHA?

• How do you see sharing of administration tasks with an AHA?

• If this happened as you describe, do you see it changing your role?

• What skills would an AHA need to have to work with you in your area of work?

• What skills do you feel you would need to work with an AHA?

• What supports do you think you would need for working with an AHA?