Addressing disparities in speech-language pathology and laryngology services with telehealth.

TitleAddressing disparities in speech-language pathology and laryngology services with telehealth.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2023
AuthorsRameau A, Cox SR, Sussman SH, Odigie E
JournalJ Commun Disord
Volume105
Pagination106349
Date Published2023 Sep-Oct
ISSN1873-7994
KeywordsEthnicity, Humans, Otolaryngology, Pandemics, Speech-Language Pathology, Telemedicine
Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected the health and well-being of marginalized communities, and it brought greater awareness to disparities in health care access and utilization. Addressing these disparities is difficult because of their multidimensional nature. Predisposing factors (demographic information, social structure, and beliefs), enabling factors (family and community) and illness levels (perceived and evaluated illness) are thought to jointly contribute to such disparities. Research has demonstrated that disparities in access and utilization of speech-language pathology and laryngology services are the result of racial and ethnic differences, geographic factors, sex, gender, educational background, income level and insurance status. For example, persons from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds have been found to be less likely to attend or adhere to voice rehabilitation, and they are more likely to delay health care due to language barriers, longer wait times, a lack of transportation and difficulties contacting their physician. The purpose of this paper is to summarize existing research on telehealth, discuss how telehealth offers the potential to eliminate some disparities in the access and utilization of voice care, review its limitations, and encourage continued research in this area. A clinical perspective from a large volume laryngology clinic in a major city in northeastern United States highlights the use of telehealth in the provision of voice care by a laryngologist and speech-language pathologist during and after the COVID19 pandemic.

DOI10.1016/j.jcomdis.2023.106349
Alternate JournalJ Commun Disord
PubMed ID37321106
PubMed Central IDPMC10239150