Purpose: A speech and language therapist is a paramedical specialist in diagnosis and treatment of speech, language and swallowing disorders, who scientifically examines human communication (Topbas, 2009). They are employed worldwide in different fields such as the health, education, public and private sector (BLS, 2014; ASHA, 2007). Speech and language therapy is a profession which has developed over the years with a growing number of specialists and clients. The experience and background knowledge related to this profession have been growing correspondingly. As this new field developed, it was inevitable that some problems would also arise. Valid information about the most common and predominant locations and workplaces of therapists in Turkey, type of caseloads, working days and hours, types of administration and indirect therapy that they have to execute is not available. It is also not known in which profession-related areas they consider themselves to be a specialist and if their caseload allows them to make full use of their specialist skills in their work environment. Yanat Van Zonderen (2015) carried out a study among the limited amount of speech and language therapists in Turkey who possessed a master’s degree. This study is now adapted from Yanat Van Zondern with the aim of presenting the current situation of speech and language therapy in Turkey. Speech and language therapy has a history of 20 years Turkey that began with only a master’s program and continued with a bachelor’s degree as well as doctoral programs. What makes this study important is that it describes the present situation and presents a vision about the future situation of the profession of speech and language therapy. Therefore, the study aims to examine the working practices and professional experiences of speech and language therapists working in Turkey, present their opinions about the profession and outline the current profile of the profession. Method: The study group consists of 215 specialists who graduated from Language and Speech Therapy departments and continue their practice actively in this field. These individuals participated in this study on a voluntary basis and were selected according to set parameters. In this study, the questionnaire “Survey of pediatric speech–language therapy services in the UK”, which was adapted to Turkish, was used as an assessment tool. This study is an online survey research so all data were collected in a digital environment. The survey was designed to obtain information about the respondents’ clinical experiences and practices. It consisted 317 of 28 questions of which 21 were obligatory to answer and 7 of them were non-obligatory. The first 11 questions inquired about (1) the level of the respondents and their clinical experience, (2) the university where they graduated from, (3) their academic/job title, (4) working days and hours, (5) the geographical area they worked in, (6) at which institution(s) they were employed, (7) the age range they worked with and (8) type of the institution they were employed in. The questions from 12 to 26 focused on more detailed information about the respondents’ type and quantity of their caseload, their areas of specialism, their working practices and which tasks their work time is spent on. Some questions in this section especially focused on (1) how the therapists divide their time, (2) whether their caseload allows them to make full use of their specialist skills and if not, how do they think their time would ideally be better used, (3) who determines management plans for service delivery in their workplace, (5) which specialists they cooperate with (from a multidisciplinary point of view) and (6) which specialists they refer their clients to. The last 2 questions of the survey inquired about the respondents’ anticipation and ideas about their future career plans as speech and language therapist. Results: According to the results of the study, the number of speech and language therapists who are currently employed is substantially low. Their clinical experience is rather limited since the profession hasn’t existed for very long in Turkey. As expected, a majority of the therapists in Turkey work in specific geographic areas, which results in an insufficient healthcare service delivery in the field of speech and language therapy throughout the country. It was also established that most therapists work in similar kind of institutions and with similar types of clients. A high majority has higher expectations about how they can make the best use of their specialist skills in their workplaces. Most therapists state that their case and workload are very heavy and therefore they are not able to divide their time efficiently. Conclusion: The results of the study provide us with an outline of the current profile of the profession. The awareness about the profession of speech and language therapy has been increasing every passing year. We think that this will ensure growth in the number of qualified specialists in the near future, which will result in the best and most efficient service delivery in the field of speech and language therapy.
Keywords
speech and language therapist, clinical experience, clinical practice
References
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