Speech pathology telepractice for children with cleft palate in the times of COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE: To study whether providing Speech and Language Pathology (SLP) interventions by telepractice (TP) could effectively improve speech performance in children with cleft palate (CCP). METHODS: Forty-three CCP were treated with TP intervention in 45 min sessions, 2 times per week for a period of one month. Children ages ranged 4–12 years (X = 7.04; SD = 2.59). All children presented with velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) and compensatory articulation (CA) after palatal repair. TP was provided in small groups (5–6 children) following the principles of the Whole Language Model (WLM). Severity of CA was evaluated by a standardized scale at the onset and at the end of the TP period. RESULTS: At the onset of the TP intervention period, 84% of the patients demonstrated severe CA. At the end of the TP period there was a significant improvement in severity of CA (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggests that TP can be a safe and reliable tool for improving CA. Considering that the COVID-19 pandemic will radically modify the delivery of Health Care services in the long term, alternate modes of service delivery should be studied and implemented.