Development and evaluation of interprofessional e-learning for speech pathologists, interpreters and translators

Abstract

The delivery of safe, high quality and equitable speech pathology services to clients with limited English proficiency requires speech pathologists (SPs), interpreters and translators (ITs) to work together effectively. No studies have described the development and evaluation of interprofessional training delivered in an online format. This study outlined the development of targeted e-learning for SPs and ITs, and evaluated e-learning outcomes. Sixty-six SPs and 140 ITs participated in pre- and post-training online surveys. Knowledge, confidence and practice items were self-rated on 5-point Likert scales, while skills were assessed using scored short answer responses to a video vignette assessment task. Outcomes were compared statistically between time points, and identical items from SP and IT surveys were compared between professions. Relationships between participant demographics and training outcomes were also explored. After e-learning, both professions demonstrated statistically significant improvements in all measures of self-reported knowledge, confidence, past practice compared to intended future practice, and skills. Differences in the extent of improvement between professions are discussed. SPs and ITs with less experience in their current profession and less experience working with the other profession demonstrated greater improvement after e-learning. Interprofessional e-learning developed in consultation with SPs and ITs has the potential to be an effective, user-led and accessible mode of training delivery when establishing foundation-level interprofessional training platforms for SP and IT professions globally. More research is needed to validate these findings and explore the impact of improved workforce preparedness on the delivery of equitable, accessible and high-quality services to improve client outcomes.