An International Perspective on Speech-Language Pathology Assistants

Abstract

In 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank highlighted several pressing concerns in the area of service provision to individuals with disabilities, including a global shortage of rehabilitation personnel. The use of mid-level workers was recommended as one strategy for improving human resource capacity in this area. In the United States, speech-language pathology assistants (SLPAs) are one type of mid-level worker that has received recent attention. The American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA) updated its policy statement on SLPAs in 2013 and also implemented a voluntary affiliation for assistants in 2011. Unfortunately, a paucity of research exists in the United States on this topic. Internationally, however, researchers have reported on the topic of assistants in the field of speech-language pathology. This manuscript serves as an integrative review of the research literature on the topic of assistants in the field of speech-language pathology from an international perspective, including information on the effectiveness of assistants in service provision, important elements related to their training and supervision, opinions from supervisors on this topic, and novel extensions of assistant services to areas such as cross-disciplinary tasks and telerehabilitation.