Allocation and funding of Speech and Language Therapy for children with Developmental Language Disorders across Europe and beyond

Abstract

Background: Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have a significant deficit in spoken language ability which affects their communication skills, education, mental health, employment and social inclusion.

Aim: The present study reports findings from a survey by EU network COST ACTION 1406 and aims to explore differences in service delivery and funding of SLT services for children with DLD across Europe and beyond.

Methods and procedures: The survey was completed by 5024 European professionals. COST countries were grouped into Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, Continental, Mediterranean, Central/Eastern and Non-European categories. The use of direct, indirect and mixed interventions, and their relationship to funding available (public, private or mixed) were considered for further analysis.

Outcomes and results: The results revealed that for direct therapy, there were more cases than expected receiving private funding. For indirect therapy, fewer than expected received private and more than expected public funding. For mixed therapy, fewer cases than expected received private funding.

Conclusions and implications: The results implies that other factors than evidence-based practices, practitioners experience, and patient preferences, drive choices in therapy. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of factors affecting the choice of therapy.

Keywords: Developmental Language Disorder; Direct therapy; Funding policy; Implementation; Indirect therapy; Mixed therapy; Speech and language therapy.