Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Trends Between Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists

This study investigated interprofessional practice (IPP) trends and attitudes between speech-language pathologists (SLP) and audiologists (AUD).

Clinical SLPs and AUDs completed an online survey, consisting of demographics, caseload trends, collaborative practice trends, and barriers to collaborative practice.

A total of 237 participants (131 SLPs, 106 AUDs) completed an online survey. Survey results indicated that IPP is important or very important to both professions. A smaller proportion of SLPs reported collaborating with AUDs than AUDs reported collaborating with SLPs. The most frequently identified barrier to collaboration experienced by the two professions was "access." Based on their beliefs, however, the top barriers differed between the professions. Specifically, SLPs believed that "access" was the top barrier to collaboration with AUDs whereas AUDs believed that "attitudes and perceptions" was the top barrier to collaboration with SLPs. Findings from the revised Attitudes Towards Health Care Teams Scale indicated that SLPs had a significantly more positive attitude toward IPP than AUDs.

This study indicated that although IPP is valued by SLPs and AUDs, barriers continue to limit the percentage of practitioners engaging in IPP. Although both professions experienced common barriers, their beliefs about barriers to collaboration differed.