Abstract
Background: The need for communication-related services in sub-Saharan Africa to support individuals experiencing communication disability is a longstanding and well-documented situation. We posit the inequities highlighted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) make this a relevant time for speech language therapists and the professional bodies that govern us to broadly consider our roles and practices in education, health and disability in local, national and global contexts.
Objective: To illustrate what services developed with local knowledge can look like in Kenya in order to promote dialogue around alternative speech language therapy models, particularly in contexts where there are insufficient services, few trained speech language therapists and limited structures to support the emerging profession.
Method: This article examines three clinical case studies from Western Kenya, using a conceptual framework for responsive global engagement.
Results: Service needs in Western Kenya well exceed a direct one-on-one model of care that is common in the minority world. The service delivery models described here emphasise training, skills sharing and engaging the myriad of communication partners available to individuals with communication disabilities.
Conclusion: We offer up these case studies of collaborative practice as contextual realities that may be present in any speech language therapy programming in under-resourced communities. We dispel the idea that success in this work has been linear, progressed on planned time frames or come to fruition with targeted goal attainment. The fact that our relationships have endured in these communities since 2007 is our primary success.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | a838 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | South African Journal of Communication Disorders |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Although this work involves three government hospitals in the region (two relationships described here), the work is funded by international donations. This is due to national issues around the development of the SLT profession in Kenya and lack of government recognition while the Association of Speech and Language Therapists Kenya works towards a scheme of SLT service, or an agreement around the inclusion of SLT services into the hospital’s patient billing system. Because the work does not generate revenue or cover staffing costs, resourcing a hospital-based service remains an ongoing challenge.
Funding Information:
The Communication Camp training curriculum was developed by and is continually refined by the speech language therapists and the Parent Liaison Officer based on experiences and stakeholder feedback. Communication Camps are funded through international grants and attended by parents, children, two speech language therapists and the Parent Liaison Officer. Communication camps cost USD $150 per family. This cost includes the 2-day camp costs, initial identification of the child and family and 20 follow-up visits of the child and parent as part of a support group.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021. The Authors. Licensee: AOSIS.
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.