JCPSLP Vol 22 No 1 2020

Table 1 Categories, subcategories and exemplar responses of areas reported as needing further research (continued)

Category

Subcategory

N Exemplars

5 3 1

Telehealth and use with clients by students Students/recent graduates preparedness to manage patients at the end of life Challenge of developing core clinical skills of students and new graduates in context complex caseloads and transdisciplinary models of care Working with CALD/ATSI families Speech Pathology role in Youth Justice Use of telehealth in clinical education of students and new graduates How to best support families to [sic] children’s development on background of trauma Equitable access to communication focussed speech pathology services within the hospital setting (compared to dysphagia, comparing particular patient groups) Students/recent graduates’ preparedness to manage patients at the end of life Practical strategies for developing an evidence-based workplace culture Therapy outcomes post-NDIS Partnership assessment/tool: how can we assess outcomes of systems partnering for children’s health and literacy outcomes including speech and language. Single-sided cochlear implant therapy/outcomes Tongue tie and speech development/feeding development Effectiveness and parent satisfaction with stabilising brief interventions (founded on occupational performance coaching and single session work) How to provide rehabilitation to clients with aphasia to achieve computer access goals Qualitative client outcome measures Efficacy using therapeutic stories

Professional level (n = 9)

Students New graduate SLPs MDT

Emerging specialised areas of practice/ expanded

5 5 5 2

CALD/ATSI SLP role Clinical education Counselling

scope of practice (n = 29)

Equal access

1

End of life care Evidence based practice/ guideline NDIS Organisational partnerships Is it effective? What is evidence? What are outcomes? What is the impact? Parent/carer satisfaction

1 3

1 2

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Outcomes and research questions (n = 48)

7 6 3

Meeting patient goals

3

Which outcome measure to use? Patient compliance

2

1

Patient compliance with dysphagia recommendations

RACF Hospital

Place of service (n = 3)

1 1

Speech pathologists in residential aged care Equitable access to communication focused SLP services within the hospital setting (compared to dysphagia, comparing particular patient groups) NICU

NICU

1

Note. SLP = speech-language pathologist; BI = brain injury; ABI = acquired brain injury; TBI = traumatic brain injury; COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; AAC = alternative and augmented communication; AHAs = allied health assistants; CALD = culturally and linguistically diverse; ATSI = Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander; NDIS = National Insurance Disability Scheme; RACF = residential aged care facility; MDT = multidisciplinary team; IDT = interdisciplinary team; TDT = trans disciplinary team; NICU = neonatal intensive care unit.

expanded scope of practice) to meet increasing workload demands (Productivity Commission, 2015; Queensland Health, 2017; Ward, 2019). This drive for new models of care can be attributed, in part, to an ageing population, inequity of service in geographically remote areas, and major health service changes such as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS; see www.ndis.gov.au/index.html) (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015; National Disability Insurance Agency, 2019; Productivity Commission, 2014). The reporting of this new category beyond only disorder- specific topics may have also occurred because SLPs recognised that research is already taking place in disorder- specific areas. For example, a search of the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) database revealed that over 2000 aphasia-specific papers have been published in the last 10 years. In contrast, only 39 publications relating to professional practice more broadly or specific topics such as counselling, have been published in this same timeframe, indicating that there is potentially a lack of understanding/awareness of collective professional issues. It is also worth noting

that the present study generated a larger number of response groups (categories) than other SLP prioritisation projects (e.g., McKenna et al., 2010). This may have been due to a number of factors including differences between target populations, a more diverse research agenda in Queensland, different driving forces within the two healthcare systems studied, and/or methodological differences between the studies. Research into the areas considered to be priorities by the SLP profession is important to generate robust evidence to guide practice. In recent years SPA has acknowledged and addressed some of these challenges with the publication of position statements related to specific aspects of practice, e.g., “Working in a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Society” (SPA, 2016), “Telepractice in Speech Pathology” (SPA, 2014). However, the current study has identified further research is needed in these areas and in other specific areas of practice (e.g., dysphagia rehabilitation, which was identified as a key research priority in 29 responses). Additionally, counselling and end-of-life care (within the category “emerging specialised areas

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JCPSLP Volume 22, Number 1 2020

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology