We present an experience report on the implementation of real-time telehealth in speech-language and hearing therapy for patients who were previously seen on an outpatient basis in a primary health care service The Speech-Language Therapy (SLT) team was monitoring twenty-five users when the first cases of COVID-19 were notified in southern Brazil Of these, it was judged that twelve patients required at least a monitoring call every two weeks Teleconsultations were available in this first stage, on an emergency basis, during the implementation of the project in this format The idea was to guarantee, due to the suspension of the SLT sessions, the maintenance of the care service for patients who could suffer worsening of their cases or even comorbidities The appointments were carried out by video calls by SLT students, therapists of the extension project, and supervised by a speech-language therapist, synchronously All conversations and orientations during the teleconsultation were conducted as calmly as possible and, in the case of infant patients, permeated by some playful activities Telehealth has shown to be an efficient resource for the care of patients with SLT demands, enabling remote care with the same quality as face-to-face care Besides, it has relevant potential, once there is a significant number of patients, who need SLT assessment and live in regions where there is a shortage of qualified professionals Apresentamos um relato de experiencia de implementacao de telefonoaudiologia em tempo real para pacientes que anteriormente eram atendidos em ambulatorio em um servico de atencao primaria em saude No total, 25 usuarios estavam sendo acompanhados pela equipe de fonoaudiologia quando da notificacao dos primeiros casos de COVID-19 no sul do Brasil Destes, julgou-se que 12 pacientes demandavam teleatendimento, pelo menos, quinzenalmente A teleconsulta disponibilizada nesta primeira etapa, em carater emergencial na implementacao do projeto neste formato, a fim de garantir a manutencao dos atendimentos de pacientes que poderiam sofrer agravamento ou mesmo comorbidades associadas a suspensao da fonoterapia, foram realizadas por telefone, com video, por estudantes de fonoaudiologia, extensionistas do projeto e supervisionadas por um fonoaudiologo, de forma sincrona Todas as conversas e orientacoes durante a teleconsulta sao encaminhadas com a maior calma possivel e, no caso de pacientes infantis, permeadas por algumas atividades ludicas A telessaude tem se mostrado um recurso eficiente para atendimento de pacientes com demandas fonoaudiologicas, possibilitando o atendimento remoto com a mesma qualidade que o atendimento presencial Alem disso, tem potencial relevante, considerando que ha um numero significativo de pacientes que precisam de avaliacao fonoaudiologica e residem em regioes nas quais ha escassez de profissionais qualificados
The COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of telehealth in speech-language and hearing therapy for patients at home: an experience report/ Pandemia do COVID-19 e implementacao de telefonoaudiologia para pacientes em domicilio: relato de experiencia