Maximizing the Impact of Telepractice Through a Multifaceted Service Delivery Model at The Shepherd Centre, Australia

The Shepherd Centre is a nonprofit early intervention program in New South Wales, Australia, providing listening and spoken language services through an interdisciplinary team approach to children with hearing loss and their families. Advances in communication technology and the global push towards telepractice and e-health service delivery models, and, in more recent times m-health (which is the use of mobile telecommunication and multimedia technologies integrated within mobile and wireless health care delivery systems; Istepanian, Laxminarayn, & Pattichis, 2006), compelled The Shepherd Centre to adapt their distance service delivery model to provide up-to-date, effective, and efficient telepractice services to families from rural areas.

This profile describes how the distance support program has adjusted its service to embrace telepractice through a low cost, accessible, and reliable framework. In addition, individual telepractice sessions are supported with a residential workshop program for families and professionals.