Ein Update zu digitalen Interventionen in der Logopädie/Sprachtherapie

Abstract

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalization in speech language therapy has progressed rapidly. Teletherapy, in particular, has become part of regular speech language therapy, as it has been reimbursed by German health insurance companies since March 2020. At the same time, political innovations such as the E-Health Act (E-Health-Gesetz, 2015), the Act to Improve Healthcare Provision through Digitalization and Innovation (Digital Healthcare Act – DVG, 2019), and the law on digital modernization of healthcare (DVPMG) (2021) offered new opportunities but also generate (future) tasks for speech and language therapists. For example, since the DVG was approved, applications (apps) can be prescribed by physicians and the statutory health insurance pays for them. In addition, speech language therapists are also to be connected to the telematics infrastructure starting in 2026. These and other digital innovations offer a variety of opportunities for improved care in speech language therapy but also incorporate new duties and responsibilities in the professional range of tasks of speech and language therapists. In order to be able to specify requirements and critically accompany (new) technological developments, it is highly relevant that speech language therapists acquire a critically reflected attitude towards digital technologies to acquire or expand digital competence. In addition, goal-oriented political frameworks and specifications are of enormous importance for successful implementation of digital technologies in speech language therapy Keywords: aphasia,