“A Band-Aid Service” Speech language pathologists' perspectives on the support they offer children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and their families”.
Tracks
Concurrent session T5
Feeding
Paediatric/Infant
Service delivery
| Tuesday, May 28, 2024 |
| 1:50 PM - 2:05 PM |
| River View Room 05 |
Overview
Julie Tan, Naomi Cocks and Deborah Hersh
Details
⏫ Research insights
📚 Assumed knowledge of attendees: Foundational (new/casual familiarity with the topic e.g. treated a single case)
📚 Assumed knowledge of attendees: Foundational (new/casual familiarity with the topic e.g. treated a single case)
Presenter
Ms Julie Tan
Self-employed
“A Band-Aid Service” Speech language pathologists' perspectives on the support they offer children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and their families”.
1:50 PM - 2:05 PMPresentation summary
This presentation will report on “A Band-Aid Service” Speech Language Pathologists' perspectives on the support they offer children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and their families”. A qualitative study which explored speech-language pathologists’ reflections and perspectives on how they support children with PFD and their families. Interpretative phenomenological analysis of semi-structured interviews with 11 speech-language pathologists experienced in PFD was completed. This analysis yielded ideographic accounts and shared experiences.
This study sheds further light on PFD's significant impact on families, following a previous study conducted with Mothers whose children had PFD. These mothers reported issues regarding access to support from speech and language pathologists.
Three group experiential themes were identified in this research data: a high degree of uncertainty around practice, regardless of the years of experience; a passion for providing a robust family centred practice response to these children and their families; and the identified challenges inherent in delivering services for clients with PFD, particularly for speech-language pathologists practising in Australia. These issues were related to systemic issues, including limited funding, training, supervision, research, and community awareness of paediatric feeding disorder. This study found the “perfect storm” for speech-language pathologists attempting to deliver services to their clients with PFD and their families. The changing face of the allied health services in Australia since the roll-out of the NDIS has impacted funding, training, and the ability to deliver multidisciplinary responses. PFD affects a large and growing population, and the funding bodies concerned must be involved in the conversations and potential solutions needed if we are to meet the needs of these children and their families.
This presentation will inform and challenge our views on the role of speech pathologists in PFD. The reflective, ideographic accounts of these experienced therapists will provide a model to inspire and motivate us.
This study sheds further light on PFD's significant impact on families, following a previous study conducted with Mothers whose children had PFD. These mothers reported issues regarding access to support from speech and language pathologists.
Three group experiential themes were identified in this research data: a high degree of uncertainty around practice, regardless of the years of experience; a passion for providing a robust family centred practice response to these children and their families; and the identified challenges inherent in delivering services for clients with PFD, particularly for speech-language pathologists practising in Australia. These issues were related to systemic issues, including limited funding, training, supervision, research, and community awareness of paediatric feeding disorder. This study found the “perfect storm” for speech-language pathologists attempting to deliver services to their clients with PFD and their families. The changing face of the allied health services in Australia since the roll-out of the NDIS has impacted funding, training, and the ability to deliver multidisciplinary responses. PFD affects a large and growing population, and the funding bodies concerned must be involved in the conversations and potential solutions needed if we are to meet the needs of these children and their families.
This presentation will inform and challenge our views on the role of speech pathologists in PFD. The reflective, ideographic accounts of these experienced therapists will provide a model to inspire and motivate us.
Key messages
• Inspiration and Motivation: In the presentation, the ideographic accounts of experienced therapists serve as a model to inspire and motivate other SLPs. They provide real-world insights and strategies for those dedicated to responding respectfully to the families they work with, highlighting the importance of empathy and effective communication.
• Family-Centered Approach: SLPs in this study were passionate about providing a family-centered practice response to children with PFD and their families. This underscores the importance of involving and supporting families in the treatment process, acknowledging their crucial role in the child's development and well-being.
• Challenges in Service Delivery: The presentation identifies various challenges in delivering services for clients with PFD, particularly for SLPs in Australia. These challenges include issues related to limited funding, training, supervision, research, and community awareness. This highlights the need for systemic improvements to support SLPs in providing quality care for children with PFD.
• Family-Centered Approach: SLPs in this study were passionate about providing a family-centered practice response to children with PFD and their families. This underscores the importance of involving and supporting families in the treatment process, acknowledging their crucial role in the child's development and well-being.
• Challenges in Service Delivery: The presentation identifies various challenges in delivering services for clients with PFD, particularly for SLPs in Australia. These challenges include issues related to limited funding, training, supervision, research, and community awareness. This highlights the need for systemic improvements to support SLPs in providing quality care for children with PFD.
**********
Julie is a certified practising speech pathologist who has worked with children and adults focused on their communication and feeding skills for over twenty-seven years. She lives in Perth, Australia. She worked for many years in New Zealand and Britain; she trained in her hometown in Glasgow, Scotland. Her passion is collaborative practice with her client, their families, carers and all her professional colleagues.
She has post-graduate qualifications in adult-acquired dysphagia & paediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. She established the MEAHLS team (Mealtime and Eating Allied Health Liaison Service) whilst working at a disability service provider, one of the first interdisciplinary and community-based feeding teams in Perth, Australia.
She is currently a prospective PhD candidate at Curtin University, where her research considers the support required by children with PFD and their families. She completed a study on families’ perspectives on that support and had a paper published in 2021. She has recently completed her second study on speech pathologists' perspectives on the support they offer. She hopes a journal article will be published on this study very soon.
Dr Naomi Cocks
Curtin University
“A Band-Aid Service” Speech language pathologists' perspectives on the support they offer children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and their families”.
1:50 PM - 2:05 PM**********
Dr Naomi Cocks is a speech pathologist, senior lecturer, and researcher based at Curtin University. She has published over 45 journal articles and 2 books. In recent years her research has focused on communication difficulties and swallowing difficulties experienced by people with Parkinson’s. She is a member of ParkC- a group of researchers who are committed to improving the lives of people with Parkinson’s (see: https://parkc.co/)
Professor Deborah Hersh
Professor, Speech Pathology
Curtin University
“A Band-Aid Service” Speech language pathologists' perspectives on the support they offer children with Paediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD) and their families”.
1:50 PM - 2:05 PM**********
Professor Deborah Hersh is Discipline Lead in Speech Pathology at Curtin University. She has 35 years of clinical, research and teaching experience in speech pathology in the UK and Australia, is a Fellow of Speech Pathology Australia, and an AAUT national teaching citation awardee. Deborah has worked in aphasia rehabilitation in a range of contexts: she established the Talkback Association (now Aphasia SA) in 1999, drafted the aphasia section of the 2010 Stroke Foundation Stroke Management Guidelines, was on the working group for the development of the Australian Aphasia Rehabilitation Pathway (2013-2014), and was the Chairperson of the Australian Aphasia Association from 2020-2023. Deborah has 150 publications and is an Editorial Board member of the International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, and of Aphasiology. She has an international reputation in research on person-centred practice in aphasia rehabilitation and the application of qualitative research methodologies to the field of communication disorders.
Session chair
Lisa Moshovis
Clinical Lead - Mealtimes Senior Speech Pathologist
Ability WA
Student volunteer(s)
Alice Emmerton
Curtin University
Michelle Spillman
Edith Cowan University
The information contained in this program is current at of the time of publishing but is subject to changes made without notice.
Disclaimer: © (2024) The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited. All rights reserved.
Important Notice, please read: The views expressed in this presentation and reproduced in these materials are not necessarily the views of, or endorsed by, The Speech Pathology Association of Australia Limited ("the Association"). The Association makes no warranty or representation in relation to the content, currency or accuracy of any of the materials comprised in this presentation. The Association expressly disclaims any and all liability (including liability for negligence) in respect of use of these materials and the information contained within them. The Association recommends you seek independent professional advice prior to making any decision involving matters outlined in this presentation including in any of the materials referred to or otherwise incorporated into this presentation.
.
