Educating speech-language pathologists working in early intervention on environmental health

Area of Science:

• Environmental Health
• Developmental Pediatrics
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Early intervention (EI) Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) often lack sufficient training on environmental toxicants impacting child development.
• SLPs are crucial in identifying developmental issues, but may be unprepared to address environmental exposure concerns with families.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess EI SLPs' current knowledge and training regarding environmental toxicants and child development.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of a continuing education (CE) event designed to enhance SLPs' understanding of environmental health issues.

Main Methods:

• An online survey distributed via Qualtrics and ASHA's EI Community page assessed SLPs' environmental health knowledge.
• Survey results informed the development of a targeted CE event for EI SLPs.
• Pre- and post-tests were administered to CE event attendees to measure knowledge improvement.

Main Results:

• A majority of surveyed SLPs (61%) expressed dissatisfaction with prior training on environmental exposures.
• Over half of participants (56%) felt unprepared to advocate for environmental health concerns.
• CE event attendees (n=48) showed significant knowledge gains from pre- to post-testing.

Conclusions:

• EI SLPs perceive gaps in their training and confidence in advocating for environmental health.
• Continuing education programs are effective in increasing SLPs' knowledge base regarding environmental health issues.
• Targeted CE can empower SLPs to better support families in addressing environmental exposures affecting child development.