Factors that affect the utilization of speech and language therapy service available for the children with communication difficulties in a specialized rehabilitation center in Bangladesh

Abstract Communication is an essential component of everyday life to express insight of desire. Center for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) provides speech and language therapy (SLT) intervention for people with communication disorders in Bangladesh with their fullest capacity, but people often face several challenges and difficulties during access to service utilization and are deprived of desirable outcome of the intervention. So, the aim of the study is to identify the influencing factors to utilize the available SLT service for the children with communication difficulties in a specialized rehabilitation center in Bangladesh. A cross sectional study was carried out among 152 respondents who attended pediatric outpatient unit with inclusion of at least four consecutive sessions at Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed. This study shows significant challenges for service utilization such as distance from the SLT service centre, financial incapacity to bear SLT service cost, unavailable appointment schedule of therapists, long waiting time, etc. Yet the perceived quality of SLT service is found high quality (58.6%). 60.5% of the respondents believe that lack of awareness is responsible for delayed improvement of the children. The result is interpreted in terms of influencing factors to utilize the existing SLT service which could be a potential resource for the service providers and policy makers to consider in order to improve the speech therapy service quality that ultimately helps to complete the treatment and successful rehabilitation. Key words: