Haley Wheeler, MA, CCC-SLP

Sharon Hospital

Haley.Wheeler@nuvancehealth.org

Bio

Haley Wheeler, M.A. CCC-SLP is a speech-language pathologist licensed in Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders from the University of Connecticut in 2009 and went on to obtain her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Connecticut in 2012. Following entrance into the workforce, Haley’s passion for education has continued, as she has earned multiple ACE awards from the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association for her commitment to continuing education.

Haley has practiced at Sharon Hospital for the last six years, where she provides services for both inpatients and outpatients from the community. She holds several clinical certifications, including standardized instrumental examinations for swallowing, in addition to evidence-based treatment programs for dementia care, dysphagia, neurogenic voice disorders and respiratory muscle strength. Haley enjoys the diverse caseload that accompanies the rural area she works in and prides herself on converging patient-centered and evidence-informed services for clients across the age spectrum, which is the foundation of her PATMDTA project.

Haley has provided in person and virtual lectures to the community, in addition to the speech-language pathologists of the Connecticut and Massachusetts Speech-Language and Hearing Associations’ Medical Committees on topics including neurogenic motor speech and swallowing disorders, the aging swallow and providing medical speech pathology services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a lecture on initiating teletherapy services.

In addition to her clinical practice, Haley sits on the Executive Board of the Connecticut Speech-Language and Hearing Association (CSHA) as Co-Vice President of Educational Programs. She is dedicated to providing affordable, quality offerings for the medical speech- language pathologists of Connecticut. Haley assisted in CSHA’s transition from in person to virtual educational conferences, working to provide additional educational offerings for the SLPs of Connecticut (and beyond) when ASHA’s national conference was cancelled due to the pandemic. Haley also sits on the Developmental Council of the Speech Uncensored Podcast, where she works to create educational materials and posts that relate to clinical topics and recent podcast episodes.

Scholarly Project

Exchanging and Examining Evidence: A Pilot Program

SCHOLARLY PROJECT
Exchanging and Examining Evidence:
A Pilot Program

Haley Wheeler, M.A. CCC-SLP, Speech-Language Pathologist

Patricia A. Tietjen, MD
Teaching Academy, Nuvance Health

PROJECT ABSTRACT

Exchanging and Examining Evidence: A Pilot Program

Evidence-based practice (EBP) can be described as the act of balancing evidence from scientific literature and patient data, individual clinician expertise, and patient-specific factors such as values and expectations. Research has shown that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) recognize the importance of EBP, but report limited time, cost and insufficient training as barriers to accessing EBP. Journal clubs have been reported across the allied health field as a means to increase consumption of scientific literature and increase application of EBP to clinical practice. The “Exchanging and Examining Evidence” pilot program explored SLPs’ perceptions of the applicability and quality of EBP resources provided as part of a virtual, monthly guided-discussion (journal club), in addition to measuring feelings of connectedness amongst SLPs in a geographically spread healthcare system. The initial phase of the program included email outreach and introductions to rehabilitation directors and lead SLPs, including a poll to obtain information related to weekly schedules for identification of a meeting time each month. A Microsoft Teams group was created to house materials, initiate communication across the healthcare system and provide a platform for monthly meetings. One trial meeting was hosted using the guided-discussion format and responses from the post- assessment suggested positive opinions related to the quality and accessibility of the materials. Once the full program beggins, participants are expected to report high levels of applicability of the EBP resources to their daily practices. Feelings of connectedness are also hypothesized to increase with engagement in the internet-based discussion board and participation in the monthly guided-discussion group. Use of a virtual journal club is a feasible option for SLPs to connect professionally, access quality research and improve EBP uptake. A secondary benefit can include the acquisition of professional development hours, as per the American Speech-Language Hearing Association’s (ASHA) description of acceptable continuing education activities.