Parents’ Perceptions Regarding Needs and Readiness for Tele-Practice Implementation Within a Public Health System for the Identification and Rehabilitation of Children with Hearing and Speech–Language Disorders in South India

Neethi Jesudass, Vidya Ramkumar (), Shuba Kumar and Lakshmi Venkatesh
Additional contact information
Neethi Jesudass: Department of Audiology, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Chennai 600116, Tamil Nadu, India
Vidya Ramkumar: India Alliance, Intermediate Fellow in Clinical and Public Health Research, Department of Audiology, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Chennai 600116, Tamil Nadu, India
Shuba Kumar: SAMARTH, Chennai 600004, Tamil Nadu, India
Lakshmi Venkatesh: SAMARTH, Chennai 600004, Tamil Nadu, India

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 6, 1-25

Abstract: Background: Tele-practice, as an evidence-based practice, has gained momentum over the last two decades. However, routine clinical adoption is not spontaneous. Implementation science facilitates stakeholder engagement and the assessment of needs and plans. The study aims to assess the needs related to audiology and speech–language pathology services for children under six years of age and readiness for a tele-practice-based model of care for diagnostic and rehabilitation services among parents within the public sector in Tamil Nadu. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The qualitative methods of focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted for parents of children with disabilities. A quantitative community survey was conducted on parents of children with no known disabilities. A deductive-inductive method of analysis was used. Results: Community survey responses were analyzed using percentage analysis. The results were classified based on the constructs of Bowen’s feasibility framework: demand/need for tele-practice, acceptability of tele-practice, and integration and practicality of tele-practice. Parents considered the existing services to be inadequate. Parents perceived tele-practice as beneficial, yet they felt a hybrid method would be more suitable, with sufficiently interspersed in-person visits. Parents believed that training and community awareness were necessary before implementing a technology-based model of services. Conclusions: The study’s findings guided the fine-tuning of the proposed comprehensive tele-practice model for hearing and speech–language services for children in this rural district.

Keywords: needs; readiness; tele-practice; public health system; community; focus group discussions; semi-structured interviews; community survey; parents’ perceptions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/943/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/6/943/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:6:p:943-:d:1680101

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().