Journal Reviews
Everyone has the right to say no
Despite the introduction of the Mental Capacity Act in 2005, healthcare professionals remain uncomfortable with individuals who choose not to follow medical advice - who make informed decisions to decline a treatment or management plans. This paper highlights that speech...
Children like to talk
When a health professional, including speech and language therapists, treats a child, they will often ask the parent or relative of the child for information on the issue and its impact. Yet children will frequently have an opinion on their...
The power of (younger versus older) lips
The Directional into Velocity of Articulators (DIVA) model theorises that we require both auditory and sensory feedback - from our articulators - in order to ensure we are able to produce precise and powerful articulatory movements. This study aimed to...
A single blinded RCT comparing triamcinolone with 5-FU treatment for keloid scars
This single blinded RCT compared 43 patients with 50 symptomatic keloids that were randomised to two matched groups of 25 scars, receiving either 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or current first line treatment, triamcinolone (TAC). The surgeon administering the injectable treatments was unblinded,...
Does talking better make you feel better?
Interaction-focused therapy for people with language impairment (aphasia) following a stroke or brain injury is routinely used by speech and language therapists in clinical practice. These types of interventions are based on research into the organisation of interactions and interactional...
To use or not to use: absorbable sutures for facial wounds
This systematic literature review looked at studies comparing facial skin closure with absorbable versus non-absorbable sutures. Studies not published in English or looking at areas other than the head and neck, and studies focused on suture technique rather than material...
Maintaining a voice throughout the MND journey
Amytrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as motor neurone disease (MND), is a progressive neurological disease that destroys the nerve cells responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movements resulting in severe dysarthria in 95% of people with MND. It may lead to...
Review of surgical treatments of intractable Meniere’s disease
This is a nice summary of the evidence available for the surgical treatments for intractable Meniere’s disease. To summarise, in five-10 years, over 90% of vestibular neurectomy cases, more than 80% of intratympanic gentamycin treatment, and 70-80% of endolymphatic sac...
Do you know what aphasia is?
In 2001 a survey was conducted in a number of towns across the world, including Exeter in the UK, to identify the level of awareness and knowledge of aphasia in the community. Aphasia is difficulty in producing or understanding language...
Stuttering and bullying - everyone’s business
This article emphasises that bullying (distinct from teasing- the former being defined as repeated actions intended as harmful, compared to good-natured interactions enjoyed by everyone) is an issue that can impact significantly on a child or young person’s ability to...
Great gains in groups: language led dementia
The number of people living with dementia is increasing as our population increases and delivering relevant and timely services can be a challenge. Group intervention provides a method of delivering services to a larger number of people and can have...
Choosing our tools: assessing language in dementia
Language led dementia, also known as primary progressive aphasia (PPA), is an emerging area of practice in speech and language therapy. Given that the diagnosis centres around the key diagnostic feature of language, whereby language impairment is the most prominent...
