Speech Therapy Telepractice Services in Fiji: A Multicultural Experience for Graduate Student Clinicians

Abstract

Purpose: The University of Maine Speech Therapy Telepractice Program provides speech therapy telepractice services to children with communication disorders at the International School Suva (ISS), Fiji. This partnership has fostered international engagement and multicultural experiences for graduate student clinicians in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders while filling a need for speech therapy services in Fiji. Despite infrastructure, scheduling, and COVID-19 issues, the benefits of this partnership have far outweighed the challenges. Clinical observations of the ISS children's responses have revealed excellent progress toward achieving therapy goals. Parents and school personnel have also reported a high degree of satisfaction with our services. The program has encouraged our graduate students to be resilient, out-of-the-box thinkers as they research a variety of multicultural issues and apply this new knowledge to the clinical programs of their clients. Conclusions: This article highlights the partnership between The University of Maine, Speech Therapy Telepractice Training Program and the ISS, Fiji, as an example for other academic programs that are interested in establishing international telepractice partnerships. A description of the telepractice clinical procedures and technology for service provision at the ISS is included, along with a discussion of the challenges and benefits for providing international speech therapy telepractice services. Two case examples illustrate the complexity of providing services to multilingual children with different cultural backgrounds.