Department of Audiology, Speech and Language

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://197.255.125.131:4000/handle/123456789/27926

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Speech-Language Therapy in Sub-Saharan Africa: Development and Sustainability of Services for Persons with Communication Disability
(Springer, Cham, 2023) Wylie, K.; McAllister, L.; Davidson, B.; et al.
Abstract Background: Speech–language therapy (SLT) is an emerging profession in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Recent developments in SLT training in several countries including Uganda, Togo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ghana will gradually improve the regional availability of speech–language therapists (SLTs). However, for this relatively small number of therapists to effectively develop and influence services for persons with communication disability, consideration needs to be given to how the profession can develop in ways relevant to African contexts. This chapter raises issues surrounding the development and sustainability of the SLT profession in SSA and considers the potential contributions of the profession to the rehabilitation services for persons with communication disability. Methodology: An in-depth mixed methods survey combining both open- and closed-ended questions regarding the SLT workforce in SSA was employed between April 2012 and March 2013. A review and synthesis of the relevant literature including workforce development and rehabilitation models in the region is also included. Results: Thirty-three respondents provided information regarding availability, accessibility, acceptability, and challenges for the development and sustainability of rehabilitation services for persons with communication disability, such as job insecurity and opportunities for professional support. Discussion: The discussion integrates the implications for an emerging SLT scope of practice in SSA, issues influencing this workforce sustainability in the region, and original research from an SLT workforce survey in SSA, as well as the challenges to the development and sustainability of rehabilitation services for persons with communication disability. Recommendations are made for SLT development in countries in SSA, such as job creation in equitable service sectors.
Maximizing the Benefits and Minimizing the Risks from the Contribution of “Outsiders” to the Development of Services for Persons with Communication Disability in Sub-Saharan Africa
(Springer, Cham, 2023) Owusu, N.A.V.; Marshall, J.; Sowden, R.
Abstract Background: Services for persons with communication disability are scarce in many low- and middle-income countries, including most countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Speech–language therapists (SLTs) from high-income countries have long been involved in supporting service developments in SSA. This has often been through short-, medium-, or long-term posts (e.g., through individuals being employed by nongovernmental organizations, working as volunteer expatriates, or being locally employed), delivering direct services to clients and their families, training other professionals, and/or educating SLTs. Consultants working on a short-term basis advise universities and government ministries on the establishment of speech–language therapy (SLT) services and educational programs. There is some professional literature guiding SLTs from high-income countries on how to prepare for such work, but little has been written about what low- and middle-income country-based professionals, clients, or their families think about or would like from outsider SLTs. Furthermore, there is little or no evidence indicating what makes outsider support successful. Methodology: Two SLTs, with a combined experience of over 40 years (a Ghanaian SLT and an SLT based in the UK with considerable experience working in low- and middle-income countries), present a written dialogue about insiders and outsiders working together in low- and middle-income country contexts. Four fictitious case examples of outsider-insider experiences of collaboration are then given, illustrating points made in the dialogue. The third author then reports on part of her PhD study of an SLT insider-outsider collaboration in Uganda. Results/Discussion: Learning from all three sections and the previously published literature is then used to generate recommendations for maximizing the benefits of insider-outsider SLT collaborations in low- and middle-income countries.