Identifying critical behaviours for building engagement in telepractice early intervention: An international e‐Delphi study

BACKGROUND: Engagement of the child, parent and professional may facilitate positive outcomes for young children with communication disorders receiving early intervention (EI) via telepractice. Despite reported positive outcomes of engagement in a family‐centred model of EI, there is limited research exploring the nature engagement in the telepractice environment and guiding professionals on how to best interact with young children and their families. AIM: To identify a set of critical behaviours for building engagement in telepractice EI. METHODS & PROCEDURES: A two‐round modified e‐Delphi study was conducted. Participants were international experts in the field of paediatric communication disorders and telepractice EI from diverse allied health and education backgrounds. The experts used a nine‐point Likert scale to rate the importance of a predetermined set of critical behaviours for building engagement in telepractice EI across three different aspects of the telepractice interaction: (1) getting to know each other; (2) family‐centred telepractice; and (3) telepractice specific considerations. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: A total of 30 experts completed round 1, with 21 participants from round 1 completing round 2 (70% response rate). Across the two rounds, a total of 64 of the 109 items presented (58.71%) achieved consensus as critical behaviours for building engagement in telepractice EI. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: The present study identified a set of individual aspects of the telepractice interaction that participants, particularly professionals, may need to intentionally address to engage with families of young children with communication disorders receiving EI via telepractice. The results from this study will contribute to the development of an observational tool to measure engagement in the telepractice EI environment. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS: WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT: A growing body of research suggests telepractice is a feasible alternative for families of young children with communication disorders who lack access to high‐quality EI. The engagement of families through family‐centred care has long been recommended for children enrolled in EI. Although there is growing uptake of telepractice EI, limited research is available guiding professionals on how to engage with families of young children with communication disorders via telepractice. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE: This study provides a set of 64 telepractice‐specific behaviours deemed critical to engagement for all participants of the telepractice interaction. The display of these behaviours could assist professionals to better engage with families of young children within the telepractice environment. WHAT ARE THE POTENTIAL OR ACTUAL CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS WORK? The findings of this study provide a set of telepractice‐specific behaviours that professionals may need to deliberately display and encourage while interacting with young children with communication disorders and their families. Professionals displaying these behaviours could potentially enhance the engagement of families receiving EI services via telepractice. This set of critical behaviours will be refined with the aim of developing an evidence‐based observational tool to measure engagement in the context of telepractice EI.