The Covid crisis saw many audiology services, private and public, scramble to find other methods of continuing to deliver services to new and existing patients/clients. This textbook builds on international research that the authors published during that time and the title is self-explanatory: a comprehensive guide to teleaudiology.
Each of the eight, well referenced, informative chapters offer an ‘e-learning outcome’, suggesting the text should be treated as a learning resource for students. However, it is very much a handy reference book for defining, setting up and running remote services for adult patients.
My main criticism of this sort of text is it is of its time and, with the rapid development of new technologies, I would question how valid its information will remain in the next five to 10 years. In addition, as this is a relentlessly positive slant on the benefits of teleaudiology, it would have been interesting to explore some of the more controversial aspects; for example, the true validation of some of the diagnostic methods employed, data security and safeguarding issues in video communications, to name a few. However, if you wish to comprehensively explore teleaudiology at a reasonable price, the book falls into the good value range for an audiology text and is of wider benefit to others in that its authors promise to channel proceeds into further research in assessing the benefits of teleaudiology in the African continent.
