Laryngectomy Care Considerations and Telepractice During COVID-19

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an acceleration to move appointments from in-person to virtual triage and telehealth visits. Whilst countries such as Australia have significant experience with telepractice in laryngectomy care, other countries have only recently embarked on this journey. Guidelines for teletherapy vary from country-to-country and as a result, many clinicians are unsure how to proceed with service delivery. Additionally, given that HNC patients are a complex population that requires hands-on-management, there are not widely-distributed, concrete protocols for virtual management. The objective of this call is to bring together experienced tele-practice clinicians and clinicians who have recently started up successful telepractice to discuss current practice and answer frequently asked questions.

International panel:

Prof Elizabeth Ward, B.Sp.Thy (Hons), Grad Cert Higher Education, PhD, FSPAA
Director, Centre for Functioning and Health Research (CFAHR), Metro South Hospital and Health Service, Queensland, Australia
Professor, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia

Dr Clare Burns, PhD BSpPath
Advanced Speech Pathologist & Clinical Research Fellow, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital, Metro North HHS, Queensland, Australia

Prof Dr Tobed Secall, MD
Head and Neck Surgeon, Hospital Josep Trueta, Girona, Catalonia, Spain
Associate Professor, University of Girona, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Prof Dr Kate Hutcheson, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Head & Neck Surgery
Chief, Section of Speech Pathology & Audiology
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States of America

Dr Ylenia Longobardi, MSc
Doctor of Speech and Language Pathology, Doctor of Psychology and Psycho-Oncology, Catholic University of the Sacred heart (Gemelli Hospital), Rome, Italy

Reference mentioned during the discussion:

Key TelePractice references from the work of Prof Ward and Dr Burns

Other helpful resources on TelePractice can be found on the website of Speech Pathology Australia