"I would like Broadband ... like everyone else": The role of highspeed-broadband in connecting people with little or no speech and GPs

The authors present the findings of a small exploratory pilot study investigating how people with little or no speech communicate with General Practitioners (GPs) and whether there is any potential for high-capacity broadband to facilitate communication in this context. A focus group with four individuals with little or no speech and three interviews with GPs were conducted in Melbourne in 2011. Thematic analysis of the data collected indicated that the main challenges to effective communication were the time allocated to face-to-face consultations, patient frustration at being misunderstood, patients’ experiences of communicating with GPs through receptionists and other staff, and GPs’ understanding of the patient’s unique communication needs. Factors said to support effective communication included having an ongoing relationship with a regular GP, allocating patients a longer appointment time-slot, and training in communication disability for all primary health care staff. Patients and GPs felt there was potential for the use of telecommunications, including high-capacity broadband, in this context but their views differed. Patients expressed a concern that broadband was not affordable and a desire to use email to communicate with GPs. GPs were open to considering the use of email in principle but expressed concerns about security of transmission, staffing infrastructure, determining urgency, and medico-legal constraints. The authors conclude that research surrounding the future of telehealth must be firmly grounded in the needs of the user (patient/GP) and the communicative function the technology is designed to enable. Further rigorous research on this topic is needed.