‘He just looked like he couldn’t learn, whereas he just couldn’t see’: exploring clinician experiences working with people who have co-occurring communication and visual impairment

Abstract

ABSTRACT Individuals with concurrent visual and communication impairments necessitate specialized, multidisciplinary care, yet the adequacy of orthoptists' and speech pathologists' skills and resources remains underexplored. This research aims to examine these professionals' perspectives and test the acceptability of qualitative methods before a broader study. Qualitative focus group study with thematic analysis. Three, 1.5-hour semi-structured focus groups were conducted with a total of seven clinicians on videoconferencing platform, Zoom. Four orthoptists and three speech pathologists with at least 12 months of relevant clinical experience took part in focus groups. Focus groups were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Four main themes with 12 subthemes were identified. Theme 1, positive impacts of interprofessional care, reflected the value of collaboration, dual knowledge and addressing both disabilities in improving client outcomes. Theme 2 highlighted barriers to effective clinical management, including limited communication between professions, lack of interprofessional knowledge, poor role awareness, orthoptists use of objective measures, and resource barriers. Theme 3 related to participants’ lack of formal and informal training experiences, and theme 4 included enablers to improving clinical competency. All participants agreed with the allocated time for each focus group and believed the questions were appropriate and relevant to the aim of the study. A number of suggestions were made to enable a more successful focus group discussion in the future. This study revealed perceived gaps in interdisciplinary collaboration, skills, and knowledge, including a lack of role awareness and effective management practices for clinicians. Further training, resource development and research is warranted.