Development of a stand-alone eHealth treatment: iCamperdown.

Area of Science:

• Speech-language pathology
• Digital health interventions
• Human-computer interaction

Background:

• eHealth treatments offer accessible, cost-effective, and convenient care models.
• Speech disorders, particularly stuttering, can benefit from innovative therapeutic approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To detail the user testing process and results for the iCamperdown eHealth speech treatment for adults who stutter.
• To gather feedback from end-users (adults who stutter) and speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

Main Methods:

• Iterative user-testing methodology.
• Incorporation of think-aloud protocols and structured questionnaires.
• Involvement of adults who stutter and SLPs as end-users.

Main Results:

• User feedback led to program modifications, including functional and aesthetic enhancements.
• Improvements focused on automatic audio instructions for navigation, clarity of instructions, and audio quality.
• Aesthetic changes aimed to improve user acceptability and overall program efficiency.

Conclusions:

• The iCamperdown program is ready for Phase I clinical trials to assess safety, compliance, and preliminary outcomes.
• Future research could explore predictors of treatment success and potential for machine learning automation.
• International translation and adoption could significantly transform speech-language pathology practices globally.