Mental practice could be a great COVID-19 solution for delivering swallow rehab

Motor imagery is defined as the process of voluntarily generating a mental image of a motor function without actually doing said function. Mental practice (MP) is the process of doing this repeatedly; practising it. There is some evidence that this...

What do SLTs do in palliative care?

The authors of this article highlight that the number of older people has increased significantly in the last two decades, and the number of people over 85 has doubled in Australia since 1996. They attribute this to improved lifestyle factors...

Planning for the long term when working with young people with TBI

Traumatic brain injuries are most common amongst young people and can have long term consequences. The authors of this article provide an approach to management of cognitive and communication difficulties which starts with a detailed assessment using the model of...

What the people want and need: emerging service for communication needs in Ghana

There is a significant shortfall in rehabilitation service for people with communication difficulties across Majority World countries. It is known that many people in these countries are likely to seek help from a variety of sectors including western healthcare, religious...

Doing it for the men: diversifying the speech and language therapy profession

It is known that many health professions are dominated by females, particularly the allied health professions, such as speech and language therapy. This is more pronounced in the US than in the UK, Australia and other countries. The authors of...

Counting up discourse

Speech and language researchers and health professionals alike strive to measure communication abilities using relevant and psychometrically sound tools. Discourse measures are potential tools which reflect everyday communication more accurately than other more traditional measures. However, time has been a...

Back to the future: aphasia therapy post stroke

When speech and language therapist first started working with people with stroke-related aphasia, they employed a general stimulation approach, the same with every patient they met. In the '70s this changed, and a more tailored approach was developed whereby therapists...

Bright young things: executive functioning in younger, older and aphasic people

Executive function comprises several higher order cognitive processes such as planning, organisation, adaptation, maintenance, monitoring and decision making. It is thought that difficulties in cognitive flexibility in people with aphasia are associated with difficulties in executive function rather than the...

Doing it for the people: how to do speech and language therapy

This review article distils 58 studies, collating information from people with aphasia, their families and clinical speech and language therapists summarising the seven habits of highly effective aphasia therapists. Habit 1: Effective therapists invest time in and prioritise relationships with...

More than words: looking at all the evidence

Evidence based practice (EBP) is a three-pillared approach whereby information on the research evidence, factors relating to the patient and clinical experience are all considered to inform a care decision. Unfortunately, there is frequently very little research evidence to inform...

Bespoke is best for children with communication difficulties

Children with communication difficulties can benefit from augmentative alternative communication (AAC) aids to support them in daily interaction, as well as in developing milestones. One of the most difficult aspects of choosing a device is not only meeting the child’s...

Humour to improve clinician - patient interactions

This study examined the role of humour employed by the speech language graduate student during their one-on-one therapy sessions with people with aphasia (PWA). The students used humour to soften the errors made by the clients; to equalise interactional power;...