Educating speech-language pathologists working in early intervention on environmental health

Emily Zimmerman, Catherine Borkowski, Stephanie Clark, Phil Brown

The goals of this study were (1) to determine early intervention (EI) Speech-Language Pathologists' (SLPs) level of training and knowledge on environmental toxicants and their effect on infant and child development; and (2) to examine the effectiveness of a continuing education (CE) event designed to enhance the knowledge of EI SLPs on environmental toxicants and their effects on child development. A survey was launched via Qualtrics and posted on the American Speech-Language Hearing Association's Early Intervention Community page to assess environmental health knowledge of SLPs. Results from this survey were used to create an environmental health CE event targeted towards EI SLPs. Attendees were given a pre- and post-test to assess the effectiveness of our program. One hundred and fifty-eight participants completed the online survey and a majority (61%, n = 97) of participants reported some level of dissatisfaction with their previous training in regards to environmental exposures. Fifty-six percent (n = 89) of the participants also reported feeling unprepared to be a health advocate regarding environmental exposure concerns within their community. Forty-eight people (26 SLPs and 22 SLP master's students) attended the CE event. Paired t-tests revealed significant improvements from the pre- to the post- test results among all attendees. These findings suggest that SLPs who work in EI feel undertrained and unprepared to advocate for environmental health to the families they serve. This study reveals that CE is one way by which to increase the knowledge base of SLPs on environmental health.