Your health and safety is our number one priority at Speech Specialists. We have developed enhanced infection prevention and control measures based on the College of Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists of Ontario’s (CASLPO) recommendations. As part of our efforts, we will continue to review and revise these safety measures in accordance with CASLPO and Public Health Ontario guidelines.
- Therapists will complete a Point of Care Risk Assessment before completing any community or clinic based visits. The SLP or CDA will assess the risk posed to themselves and the client and take the necessary precautions (i.e. appropriate PPE, rescheduling session, or using virtual care if appropriate).
- All clients and caregivers will be screened over the phone 24 hours before an in-home or centre-based visit. The COVID-19 screening MUST be negative for an in-person session to take place. Therapists will also screen themselves prior to seeing patients on a daily basis.
- The therapist will wear a face shield during all therapy sessions. The therapist will also wear gloves if physical contact is necessary. Clients and caregivers should also wear a mask that covers the mouth and the nose. The Ministry of Health is NOT requiring masks for toddlers or pre-school children while receiving therapy services. School-age children should wear masks if they can tolerate it. The SLP/CDA will ask the child to remove the mask if they need to see the child’s face as part of the assessment or treatment process.
- The therapist will use an alcohol based rub or wash their hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds before and after each session. Hand hygiene will also be practiced after removing gloves, after touching the client, any surface at client’s home, or after touching client’s materials such as toys and resources.
- Any therapy materials used including assessment tools, toys, and resources will be disinfected before and after use. Toys made from fabric or porous materials that cannot easily be cleaned will not be used.
- Only one caregiver can be present with the child during the therapy session. The caregiver must be wearing a mask throughout the session. Families are encouraged to hold in-home therapy sessions outdoors (weather permitting) or in a separate room where other family members are not present. Parents are requested to disinfect personal toys before and after use.
- Therapy sessions in the clinic will no longer be back to back. A gap of 15 minutes will be added after each therapy session to reduce client contact and to allow therapists with additional time to disinfect the room and therapy materials.
- We will continue to provide virtual intervention for individuals that are appropriate for such services.
We have created our safety measures based on recommendations by the Ministry of Health, Public Health Ontario, and CASLPO guidelines. While we have implemented these measures to the best of our ability, there is no guarantee about the complete stopping of infection or spread of COVID-19.
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