How effective are voice seminars for teachers? Long-term evaluation results of the German Lower Saxony voice seminar “Strong voice – successful at work” and critical consideration of current possibilities for measuring follow-up effects

Abstract Background Teachers are at high risk of developing a voice disorder. Voice training programmes are therefore of great importance to prevent voice disorders, but there is currently a paucity of research on follow-up effects of voice seminars. Method 109 two-day voice seminars with a total of 1133 participants from Lower Saxony/Germany were evaluated using the Occupational Voice User Profile (OVUP), a questionnaire designed to assess the subjective impact of voice problems in professional speakers. The survey was administered before the training programme and three months after. In addition, other evaluation questions were collected, such as missed workdays and implementation of the training content in everyday life. Results More than half of the participating teachers scored above the OVUP cut-off before the seminar and were therefore at risk of voice problems. In the follow-up, this number was reduced by 11%. Before the seminar, 16.5% of teachers missed at least one day of work due to voice problems, of which 7.8% missed more than five days. After the seminar, only 5.8% of the teachers reported days of absence, of which 1.7% missed more than five days. The majority of respondents were able to apply the content of the seminars to their daily lives and about half of the respondents rated their voice as more resilient, clearer and/or stronger after the seminar. Conclusion The study showed positive follow-up effects of the voice seminars three month later. Further implementation and expansion of voice seminars, as well as research for (long-term) effects, is highly relevant to maintain teachers’ health in the long term and to counteract negative consequences such as sick leave.