Practitioners' Self-Assessment of Family-Centered Practice in Telepractice Versus In-Person Early Intervention.

Area of Science:

• Early intervention for DHH children
• Telehealth in pediatric services
• Family-centered care models

Background:

• Family-centered early intervention (FCEI) is crucial for infants and young children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH).
• Geographical barriers and workforce shortages limit access to local FCEI services.
• Telepractice offers a solution by connecting families and practitioners via audiovisual technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the self-assessed use of family-centered practices by FCEI practitioners using telepractice versus in-person delivery.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of telepractice in maintaining family-centered principles in early intervention for DHH children.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 38 practitioners (15 telepractice, 23 in-person) from two DHH early intervention programs.
• Practitioners completed the Measures of Processes of Care for Service Providers self-assessment tool.
• Analysis focused on comparing self-reported family-centered practice utilization between telepractice and in-person groups.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in practitioners' self-assessed use of family-centered practices between telepractice and in-person service delivery.
• Telepractice appears to be a viable method for delivering FCEI without compromising family-centeredness.

Conclusions:

• Telepractice is an effective modality for delivering family-centered early intervention to DHH children.
• The findings support the use of telepractice to overcome access barriers in early intervention services for DHH populations.