Development of a stand-alone eHealth treatment: iCamperdown

eHealth treatments have been developed for a range of conditions. They provide an accessible, cost-effective, and convenient model for clients and families to access treatment. The aim of this paper is to provide details and results of user testing of an eHealth speech treatment for adults who stutter: iCamperdown.

An iterative user-testing process was conducted using a think-aloud method and structured questionnaires. End users were adults who stutter and speech-language pathologists (SLPs).

Based on user feedback, the program underwent several modifications. Changes made to the program included functional enhancements. These include automatic activation of audio instructions on each page to improve navigation, aesthetic modifications to improve acceptability such as rearranging of information, changes to instructions provided to users to improve clarity, and enhancing the quality of audio recordings to increase efficiency.

The iCamperdown program is now ready to be evaluated with a Phase I clinical trial, focussing on evaluating safety, compliance, and preliminary outcomes. Further clinical trialing could investigate baseline predictors and treatment moderators to identify which individuals are most likely to benefit from the program. iCamperdown has advantages and disadvantages, which we explore. We explore the prospect of automating iCamperdown with advanced machine learning techniques. Potentially, the iCamperdown Program for stuttering reduction, with translation into other world languages besides English, could be a transformative change to SLP practices internationally.