Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jun 16;22(6):943.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph22060943.

Parents' Perceptions Regarding Needs and Readiness for Tele-Practice Implementation Within a Public Health System for the Identification and Rehabilitation of Children with Hearing and Speech-Language Disorders in South India

Neethi Jesudass  1 , Vidya Ramkumar  2 , Shuba Kumar  3 , Lakshmi Venkatesh  3   4
Affiliations

Parents' Perceptions Regarding Needs and Readiness for Tele-Practice Implementation Within a Public Health System for the Identification and Rehabilitation of Children with Hearing and Speech-Language Disorders in South India

Neethi Jesudass et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Tele-practice, as an evidence-based practice, has gained momentum over the last two decades. However, routine clinical adoption is not spontaneous. Implementation science facilitates stakeholder engagement and the assessment of needs and plans. The study aims to assess the needs related to audiology and speech-language pathology services for children under six years of age and readiness for a tele-practice-based model of care for diagnostic and rehabilitation services among parents within the public sector in Tamil Nadu. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. The qualitative methods of focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted for parents of children with disabilities. A quantitative community survey was conducted on parents of children with no known disabilities. A deductive-inductive method of analysis was used. Results: Community survey responses were analyzed using percentage analysis. The results were classified based on the constructs of Bowen's feasibility framework: demand/need for tele-practice, acceptability of tele-practice, and integration and practicality of tele-practice. Parents considered the existing services to be inadequate. Parents perceived tele-practice as beneficial, yet they felt a hybrid method would be more suitable, with sufficiently interspersed in-person visits. Parents believed that training and community awareness were necessary before implementing a technology-based model of services. Conclusions: The study's findings guided the fine-tuning of the proposed comprehensive tele-practice model for hearing and speech-language services for children in this rural district.

Keywords: community; community survey; focus group discussions; needs; parents’ perceptions; public health system; readiness; semi-structured interviews; tele-practice.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of the study design.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic representation of the sociogram for FGD (10 Participants).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Parents’ of CwnkDs perceptions of their child’s development.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Parents’ of CwnkDs perceptions of the availability of service facilities and service providers.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Parents of CwnkDs: availability of testing/rehabilitation facilities.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Parents of CwnkDs: availability of service providers.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Parents of CwnkDs on accessibility: most difficult facilities to access health care services.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Parents of CwnkDs on accessibility: transport facilities to seek services.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Parents of CwnkDs: limited time of service providers.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Parents of CwnkDs: mobile phone usage to seek health services.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Parents of CwnkDs: doorstep services in the community.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Parents of CwnkDs: mobile-phone based speech, language and hearing screening.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Parents’ of CwnkDs readiness—tele-diagnostics services.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Parents’ of CwnkDs readiness—tele-rehabilitation services.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Parents of CwnkDs: suggested tele-practice delivery points for screening, diagnostic and rehabilitation services.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. 2023. [(accessed on 2 April 2025)]. Children with Disabilities. Available online: https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-disability/overview/#:~:text=Accordi....
    1. NFHS-5 (2019–21) [(accessed on 2 April 2025)]. Available online: https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FR375/FR375.pdf.
    1. Parab S.R., Khan M.M., Kulkarni S., Ghaisas V., Kulkarni P. Neonatal screening for prevalence of hearing impairment in rural areas. Indian J. Otolaryngol. Head Neck Surg. 2018;70:380–386. doi: 10.1007/s12070-018-1386-4. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Olusanya B.O., Wright S.M., Smythe T., Khetani M.A., Moreno-Angarita M., Gulati S., Brinkman S.A., Almasri N.A., Figueiredo M., Giudici L.B., et al. Early childhood development strategy for the world’s children with disabilities. Front. Public Health. 2024;12:1390107. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1390107. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bubula L., Dardzińska N., Dorobisz K. Evaluation of hearing screening in newborns in Poland. Pediatr. Pol.-Pol. J. Paediatr. 2022;97:249–253. doi: 10.5114/polp.2022.119899. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources