Provider Perspectives in Serving Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing and Their Families using Tele-Intervention

Purpose: In the second of a two-part survey series, this cross-sectional survey study explored professionals’ perceptions of tele-intervention (TI) services for young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Using Likert rating scales and open-ended questions, the survey queried professional’s confidence in providing TI services, including their views and recommendations. Data were collected March-May 2020, not realizing the survey release would coincide with the Covid-19 pandemic and the influx of unexpected virtual services. For this reason, data were stratified between those who had been providing TI services for more than versus less than three months. Responses for in-person providers were also evaluated for additional context. Methods: Responses from 123 participants who provided TI and 21 participants who provided in-person services (n=144) were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Cronbach’s alpha showed high internal consistency for all Likert scales; items of each subscale were sum-scored to examine relationships across queried areas of service delivery. Results: Provider perceptions of TI services were largely favorable. However, providers with more than three months’ experience were significantly more confident in coaching and supporting parents through TI, including more overall favorable views of a TI delivery than providers with less than three months of TI experience. There were no differences in provider confidence in coaching and supporting parents between providers with more than three months’ TI experience using TI delivery and in-person providers using in-person delivery. Conclusions: Experienced providers reported confidence in service delivery and positive views of the TI model. Programs seeking to implement virtual services should consider TI training, with a commitment to TI longevity to improve provider efficacy and confidence in TI services