Hearing Health Care Stakeholders' Perspectives on Teleaudiology Implementation: Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Pathways Forward

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore how teleaudiology is perceived by Australian-based hearing health care stakeholders (clients, clinicians, students, academics, and industry partners) to inform future teleaudiology implementation. Method: Five cross-sectional online surveys were adopted, and a total of 366 stakeholders responded (173 clients, 110 clinicians, 58 students, 19 academics, and six industry partners). Results: Results show that 55% of clients and over 90% of clinicians, students, academics, and industry partners knew what teleaudiology was. Experience in teleaudiology appointments was shared by 85% of clinicians and 7% of clients. Moreover, 98% of clients were not offered any teleaudiology appointments. Teleaudiology apps were used by 66% of clinicians and 26% of clients. Both clients and clinicians acknowledged the benefits of teleaudiology including convenience and accessibility and identified drawbacks, such as loss of personal interaction and communication difficulty. About 80% of students and academics reported inclusion of teleaudiology within their universities' curriculum but only to a limited extent. Low teleaudiology uptake rates in placement clinics, as well as insufficient funding and staffing, were suggested as barriers to learning and teaching teleaudiology. Industry partners were generally confident in training clinicians to use teleaudiology products and teaching students on teleaudiology, but only one industry partner had been invited by universities for teaching purposes. Conclusions: Low teleaudiology use and reserved attitudes toward widespread teleaudiology implementation were observed among clients. Clinicians, students, academics, and industry partners generally displayed positive attitudes toward teleaudiology use. Increasing awareness of teleaudiology services and collaboration between stakeholders are crucial in promoting teleaudiology uptake. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23519292