How Are Speech Therapists Adapting Themselves During Covid-19?

Covid-19 has struck hard in every industry and business all across the world. Factories, retail shops, offices, restaurants, and even healthcare professionals have suffered due to covid-19.

Things like social distancing, masks, and emphasis on hygiene have been practiced everywhere. But in the aftermath of covid-19, things are really different from what they used to be.

People want to be safe above anything else and that’s understandable. But are public hospitals safe? What healthcare professionals are going through?

According to one of the speech and language therapists in Chicago, “almost everything has changed after the crisis. People are showing reluctance in acquiring speech therapy services for their children as they want to practice social distancing measures. But the thing is that the need for speech therapists has been greater than ever during the covid-19 crisis.”

In this article, we will be discussing how speech therapists are adapting themselves during covid-19. So, keep reading…

How has Covid-19 Changed Speech and Language Therapy?

Although it is safe to stay at home, speech therapists still have to visit their clinics to provide their services under all the restrictions. The professionals involved in providing rehabilitation services for such therapies are audiologists and speech-language pathologists.

Just like other healthcare professionals, they have to follow the restrictions while treating their patients too.  However,  compared to other healthcare professionals, they don’t treat people with severe illnesses. Mostly their patients include the pediatric and geriatric population and people with speech and hearing disorders and disabilities.

Most audiological procedures require direct patient contact through the hand. Such as you need to use hands while giving instructions on how to place headphones, otoscope specula, electrodes, microphones, impression syringes, earmolds, and hearing aids in your ear and how to manage it.

All of this is done during a counseling session. Usually, the testing is conducted in a sound-treated room or an enclosed chamber with no ventilation because any distortion can affect hearing.

On the contrary, speech therapy requires more emphasis on mouth/lip expressions, and it cannot be done if a person is wearing a mask. There is no point if you can’t see the lips/mouth during the therapy.

Some of the speech pathology procedures such as Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) and laryngoscopy involve the nose and nasopharynx. In this procedure, they use a spray that could aerosolize the pathogens on the mucosa and help people talk.

In the general review, we can say that there is a risk of using instruments and having contact with patients and the staff that help around during these procedures.

One cannot overlook the risk of spreading covid-19 because all procedures are done with hands and it is how coronavirus spreads. The absence of any simple step or change in the formal training can cause infection and ultimately, patients are at risk.

But, the thing is that these procedures are well-crafted and standardized by the teams of specialists to cure the patients.

If a patient is healthy otherwise and the doctor doesn’t pose any threat of covid-19 spread, then you can continue the procedure otherwise it is best to wait. At the beginning of this pandemic, many hospitals canceled in-house therapy sessions to give care to people that needed emergency care. But since that time, things have calmed down a little and now people are considering rejoining their sessions.

So if you haven’t continued your therapy sessions due to covid, you can now resume without any ambiguity and doubt as mostly all therapy centers and speech pathologists are adhering to the safety measures instructed by WHO and other health authorities.

How Are Speech Therapists Adapting Themselves During Covid-19

The World Health Organization (WHO), Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and government authorities have issued special guidelines to prevent people from getting affected by covid-19.

But a lot of myths and misinformation have been circulated already. It is crucial that you follow reliable resources only especially when the quality of your life is at stake. With different countries following the trend of smart lockdown, people are considering resuming their speech and language therapy sessions. Why? Because similar to other health professionals, speech therapists are also playing their role responsibly to keep their patients safe.

Here are a few things speech therapists are doing to keep their patients safe:

• They are communicating with patients on how they will be dealt with. They’re having an informational online session that covers everything about the precautions they’re taking to keep their patients safe. Some of them are only allowing appointments to a limited number of patients. The selection is entirely based on the needs of the patients
• If people are coming for their therapies, they’re advised to take care of themselves and maintain adequate distance from other patients
• Those having private speech therapy centers ensure that face masks and sanitizers are placed everywhere
• In addition to that, a screening facility is available at the entrance so that every patient, employee, or anyone who enters the building is screened for temperature, cough, or any other symptom regarding covid-19
• Similar to any other healthcare service, speech therapists have also restricted treatment for patients who have traveled recently. They’ve been advised to stay at home for 15 days and then come for the sessions. There is no need to rush
• Patients who do not require emergency treatment should wait for a while. Also, most speech therapists are offering online counseling sessions to limit patient’s visits to the hospital

Is Therapy Service Really Necessary?

Well, therapy is prescribed for a reason and if a patient doesn’t practice therapy sessions, there is a possibility that they might not fully recover from the issues. When a person is done with the surgery, speech and language therapy allows them to speak words in the right manner. A few sessions in a month or so are given to every child and adult so that they become confident to speak in public. Therapy is essential for a full recovery.

We hope this situation ends soon so that they can continue providing services to everyone who needs them.