Telepractice program in voice therapy for primary school teachers: A Pilot study

Background: Teaching is an occupation where teachers consistently use their voices. However, excessive voice use causes voice disorders, especially in primary school teachers. Therefore, to prevent voice disorder problems in teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, voice therapy using telepractice was adopted so that teachers would gain knowledge and know how to prevent voice disorders. Objectives: The main aim of this study was to develop and implement a pilot study on a telepractice program in voice therapy for primary school teachers. Materials and methods: Telepractice program for primary school teachers was designed from the literature review under the theory of voice therapy for those people with voice disorders. Five experts with more than five years’ experience in voice therapy tested the content validity, and five teachers undertook the entire program. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: The results of index of item-objective congruence (IOC) for content validity in Part 1 (program outline), Part 2 (program manual), Part 3 (telepractice videos), and Part 4 (telepractice program quizzes) were 0.8, 0.89, 0.88, and 0.87, respectively. The IOC of the entire telepractice program was found to be 0.86, which passed the criteria. The try-out phase resulted in teachers suggesting adjusting their participation time to after 6 pm. for more convenience. Other suggestions for using voice for online and onsite teaching during COVID-19 pandemic were also provided, e.g., voice level control while using a microphone, a headset, and a computer setting during online teaching. Conclusion: The pilot study of the telepractice program in voice therapy for primary school teachers passed the content validity test and try-out criteria for primary school teachers. Thus, the program could be used in voice therapy for teachers with voice disorders to eliminate program's efficiency in the next phase.