Graduation Year
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Degree Granting Department
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Major Professor
Nathan Maxfield, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
Committee Member
Michelle Arnold, Au.D., Ph.D., CCC-A
Committee Member
Theresa Chisolm, Ph.D., CCC-A
Committee Member
Jason Lind, Ph.D., MPH
Keywords
Experience, Mixed Methods, Stuttering, Treatment
Abstract
This project investigates factors associated with treatment-seeking behaviors among adults who stutter (AWS). Specifically, we hypothesized that perceptions of previous speech therapy, including satisfaction with therapy and perceived effectiveness would be related to willingness to seek continued speech therapy. Our project was motivated by a widely used theoretical framework of health service use, and it expands on existing ancillary evidence in stuttering research.
To achieve our objective, we used both qualitative and quantitative methods to gain a more holistic understanding of barriers and facilitators to seeking continued speech therapy. Simultaneously, across two studies, we conducted and analyzed semi- structured interviews with 23 AWS, and we administered an online survey and analyzed results from 120 AWS.
Our studies found that multiple aspects of speech therapy experiences, most notably the perceived effectiveness of previous speech therapy, were related to willingness to seek continued speech therapy. In addition, our qualitative study identified critical barriers and facilitators that were not related to previous speech therapy experiences, like perceived need. Notably, there were also discrepancies identified between our studies, most notably associations between willingness to seek continued speech therapy and satisfaction with financial aspects of speech therapy.
Overall, our results show that aspects of speech therapy are meaningful to continued treatment-seeking behaviors among adults who stutter. Importantly, this suggests that there are actions that SLPs can take that may influence speech therapy experiences, and thus continued willingness to seek services again if needed.
Scholar Commons Citation
Lucey, Jaclyn, "Understanding Perceptions of Speech Therapy and Willingness to Continue Seeking Speech Therapy Among Adults Who Stutter" (2024). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/10528
