Caregivers\u27 perceived factors on barriers and facilitators for participation in SLP telepractice intervention in the satellite centers

This research is a qualitative phenomenological exploratory study using inductive approach. Four (4) participants selected using volunteer sampling were interviewed from the different satellite centers of DLSMHSI via Google Meet. The data gathering procedure was done using key informant interview (KII) provided with forward-backward translations to ensure reliability of questions. A validated interview protocol was used. An interviewer and a live transcriber were present during data gathering and on-the-record transcriptions were done by another researcher who was not present during the interview. Data triangulation was applied to check the accuracy of both transcriptions. Thematic analysis on the responses of the four (4) participants was performed and codes were identified according to the underlying recurrent theme of the responses. Results showed that the caregivers’ perceived facilitators were the caregiver’s knowledge, time management, patient- related factors, session environment and the convenience of services. These themes included the accommodations the satellite center is offering for telepractice sessions. Barriers were time management, patient- related factors and environment, specifically scheduling conflicts, patient’s uncontrollable behaviors, comorbidities and internet problems which affected their participation in the telepractice sessions. Though there were limitations, the current implementation of telepractice in the Philippines is sufficient and beneficial for the caregivers and patients