Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Health Sciences

.: ORIGINAL RESEARCH
COVID-19 Salgını Sürecinde Dil ve Konuşma Terapisi: Türkiye'deki Hizmetlerin Betimsel İncelemesi
Investigation of Speech and Language Therapy Services in Türkiye During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Descriptive Research
Nevin YILMAZ ÇİFTECİa, Şükriye KAYHAN AKTÜRKb
aBiruni Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Dil ve Konuşma Terapisi Bölümü, İstanbul, Türkiye
bMuğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Dil ve Konuşma Terapisi Bölümü, Muğla, Türkiye
Turkiye Klinikleri J Health Sci. 2022;7(4):986-99
doi: 10.5336/healthsci.2022-89716
Article Language: TR
Full Text
ÖZET
 Amaç: Tüm dünyada etkisini gösteren koronavirüs hastalığı-2019 [coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19)] salgını, diğer sağlık alanlarında olduğu gibi dil ve konuşma terapisi alanında sunulan hizmetleri de nitel ve nicel olarak etkilemiştir. Mevcut çalışmanın amacı, pandemi süresince Türkiye'de dil ve konuşma terapisi alanında hizmet veren profesyonellerin sunduğu hizmetlerin incelenmesidir. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Betimsel model ile desenlenmiş olan mevcut çalışmanın katılımcıları, Türkiye'de dil ve konuşma terapisti (DKT) olarak çalışan ve yaşları 22-45 yaş arasında değişen 114 erişkin bireydir. Katılımcıların eğitim düzeyleri lisans, yüksek lisans ve doktora olup, hizmet süreleri 0-3 ile 10+ yıl arasında değişmektedir. Çalışmada, pandemi sürecinde DKT ve odyolog hizmetlerinin incelenmesi amacıyla Belçika'da geliştirilmiş olan anket (Ek 1) Türkçeye uyarlanarak kullanılmıştır. Anket, internet ortamında paylaşılarak katılımcıların ankete erişimi sağlanmıştır. Anketten elde edilen yanıtlar, betimsel istatistik yöntemler kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Bulgular: Çalışmada yer alan DKT'lerin yalnızca %38'i pandemi sürecinde hizmet sunmaya devam etmiştir. Başvuran ve hizmet alan vaka sayılarında azalma görülürken, DKT'ler teleterapi hizmetine yönelmiştir. Katılımcılar, internet bağlantı sorunları ve dikkat-etkileşim problemlerinin, teleterapi uygulamalarında en çok karşılaşılan engeller olduğunu belirtmişlerdir. Bu süreçte, teleterapi yöntemleriyle hizmet vermeyen DKT'lerin %41'ine göre başlıca neden, teleterapi için yasal bir çerçevenin olmaması ve bu konuda eğitim almamış olmaktır. Sonuç: COVID-19 salgının, diğer sağlık profesyonelleri gibi DKT hizmetlerini de etkilediği görülmektedir. Teleterapi uygulamalarına yönelik eğitimlerin verilmesinin, kanıta dayalı bilginin artırılmasının ve yasal bir zemin oluşturulmasının önemli olduğu düşünülmektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler: COVID-19; konuşma ve dil patolojisi; teletıp; sağlık hizmetleri
ABSTRACT
 Objective: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has many effects on the health services all over the world. Speech and language pathology, as a relatively new field in Türkiye, is one of these services has been affected both quantitatively and qualitatively. The current research aims to investigate services provided by speech and language pathologists (SLPs) during COVID-19 pandemic. Material and Methods: This research is an descriptive research in which participants are 114 SLPs aged between 22-43 and working in Türkiye. Participants have bachelor, master's or doctoral degree in speech and language therapy. Period of working as SLPs changes from 0-3 years to 10+. Data is collected through a web-based questionnaire (Appendix 1). Descriptive methods is used in data analysis. Results: During COVID-19 crisis only 38% of the SLPs continued to their services. The number of the clients applying to SLPs and/or having therapies decreased. SLPs reported they preferred to use teletherapy techniques to continue to provide services. Problems in the internet connection and decrease of the attention are most frequently reported issues related to the teletherapy. 41% of the participants stated that lack of legal frame and formal education including teletherapy practices are the most important reasons of not providing services. Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic seems to affect SLPs services similar to other health services in Türkiye. Having formal education, increasing evidence-based knowledge and drawing a legal frame might have important contributions to teletherapy practices.

Keywords: COVID-19; speech-language pathology; telemedicine; health services
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