Hilary and Steve join Leigh Ann on the podcast to discuss the development of the MedConcerns app to help healthcare providers and families overcome the challenges of understanding and meeting the medical needs and concerns of people with aphasia. The app creators share about the healthcare inequality that exists for people with aphasia due to lack of widespread use of effective communication supports, and a lack of training for healthcare providers on meeting unique communication needs. They...

Eating and drinking brings pleasure to most; however, dementia can bring about significant changes in one’s communication, cognition, sensation, appetite and ability to eat and drink. When dysphagia and dementia co-occur, speech-language pathologists play a vital role on the interdisciplinary team and should be a cornerstone in care until end of life in this population. This episode focuses the discussion on mealtime modifications to enhance nutrition, hydration and quality of life for these...

Dr Cath Gregory chats about the latest evidence in Functional Neurological Disorders and the speech-language pathologist’s role when working with people with Functional Neurological Communication and Swallowing Disorders. Key Takeaway: (1-2 sentences of the main theme.) Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a problem with the ‘software’ of the brain that can occur across the lifespan. No longer classed as ‘psychogenic’, this disorder is now known to follow a biopsychosocial model of...

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) are a powerful assessment and outcome measurement tool in a person-centered approach - but many SLPs are not yet using this tool. Leigh Ann and Sarah talk about how PROMs have been transformative in their clinical practice - and also how they’ve navigated conversations with colleagues who don’t think PROMs are part of best practice. PROMs provide SLPs a tool to measure all of the ways a person has been positively impacted through speech therapy. There...

Carolyn and Leigh Ann catch up about outpatient life and then Carolyn deep-dives into a day in the life of a SLP working in an Outpatient Neuro setting, treating complex dysphagia associated with various diagnoses including Head and Neck Cancer, Lung Transplant Recipients.  Carolyn has carved out an exciting specialty in outpatient and demonstrates how there's always opportunities for growth as clinicians through various avenues! Check out Carolyn's fantastic resources in the show notes...

As SLPs, we need to advocate for our patients even when it’s hard. Irine Chacko joins Leigh Ann on the podcast to describe her experience during COVID-19 that changed her mindset and confidence in advocating and giving a voice to her patients. Irine was selected as the SLP for an acute rehab pilot program initiated at her hospital during COVID-19. Sixteen medically fragile COVID-19 patients between the ages of 40-70 joined the newly established unit from her hospital and neighboring...

Ainsley Martin joins Leigh Ann on the podcast to discuss grad students and dysphagia preparedness. The majority of graduates from speech pathology graduate programs do not feel they are adequately prepared to manage dysphagia. This is often as a result of lack of clinical experience, limited educational and clinical instruction, and questionable supervision quality. Novel approaches to dysphagia education at the graduate level such as incorporating problem-based learning, providing...

Brooke joins Leigh Ann on the podcast to discuss the role of lymphedema in acute and chronic issues faced by people with head and neck cancer. Topics include causation, prevalence, identification, and the role of the speech pathologist. Lymphedema is a chronic and progressive disease that is highly prevalent in people with head and neck cancer. Lymphedema has the potential to impact swallow function, breathing, communication, and more. Be sure to check out the show notes at...

Hannah and Leigh Ann discuss the bad rap SNFs get. Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) often have a negative stereotype and are considered a less prestigious setting of the Med SLP continuum of care. This artificial hierarchy of Med SLP practice limits our potential to provide high quality care in these settings if we feed into stereotypes. Just like any other Med SLP setting, there are challenges and great opportunities with plenty of room to practice at the top of your scope and provide high...

What does it mean to provide care in diverse spaces? Ingrid and Leigh Ann discuss what is possible for achieving outcomes in spaces not researched. Ingrid discusses the ‘how to’ of patient centered care while recognizing the limitations of the internal research. The #1 lesson is understanding that it’s ok to be an expert that continues to learn. Check out the show notes at https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/156

Dr. Allison Hilger joins Leigh Ann to talk about the origin of the Colorado Motor Speech Framework and how to use it in clinical practice. Dr. Hilger also discusses current clinical issues in motor speech and thoughts on treatment goals. The CO Motor Speech Framework can be used to guide your observations during motor speech assessment and to obtain evidence for differential diagnosis. Motor speech disorder diagnosis is important for confirming current diagnoses or providing evidence for...

In this episode, we explore the concept of staging in dementia using scales such as the Global Deterioration Scale, which helps guide our understanding of disease progression. Discover how speech-language pathologists play a vital role in providing support and implementing effective communication strategies while ensuring appropriate goals and documentation. After all, providing speech therapy services for individuals with dementia shouldn’t be scary. Check out the show notes on...

Allison discusses the importance of person-centered program development for folks with acquired brain injury, and empowering all clinicians to work on developing and implementing programs - it’s not just for administrators and “seasoned” clinicians!  On-the-ground and ‘newer’ clinicians can do it too! Identify a gap, make a plan and work on filling it with some person-centered programs. Links, resources, and more info located at: https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/153

This episode is about empathy in uncomfortable situations (e.g. when colleagues challenge your practice, patients get angry with your recommendations, doctors/nurses push back). We will discuss how stepping out of your own experience and expertise and putting energy into understanding the experience, anger, and frustration of others can be a powerful tool towards mutual growth, even if it’s the most uncomfortable part of your job. Check out the great resources at...

My guest, Stephanie Johnson, wants SLPs, future SLPs, and basically everyone to know that the end matters! Our field is uniquely positioned to advocate and support a new approach to end of life care. Communication is a key part of end of life planning. From comprehension and health literacy to expressing goals of care, connecting with loved ones, and enjoying food- SLPs can assist in all aspects. Death positivity and end of life care planning is actually life affirming. It’s a focus on what...

Remember that we’re all humans before we’re therapists. This is not only our cue to listen and counsel as appropriate, but our reminder to ask the patient how they’re doing before asking them orientation questions. This extends into every area of our care. Our jobs don’t stop at the end of our session. Learn more at https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/150

One area my guest, Tyler Roman feels speech therapy sometimes struggles is fitting into the IPR puzzle. Many patients want to focus on motor recovery and are not yet experiencing difficulties in daily tasks they were completing prior to their hospitalization. Many times CEUs/blog posts focus on the acute setting or functional cognition with home health/outpatient focus. Tyler recommends talking to your PT/OT counterparts and see where breakdowns in ADL/IADLs are occurring during therapy....

Buckle up for a wild ride on this week's conversation regarding access to education, tools, resources for speech and language pathologists. Julie is also interested in how this topic connects with why Leigh Ann took a break from podcasting for 9 months. Then we circle back to how paywalls impact who gets access resulting in disparities. Join us on a chaos-driven conversation about barriers to continuing education. Great resources in the show notes on...

Rinki wants you to know that your “one thing” may constantly change - as you, your interests, skills, and practices evolve with time. You can work towards finding and achieving your one thing with S.M.A.R.T. goal setting, focusing on one project at a time, pursuing things that feel authentic to you and align with your values, trusting your gut, and doing everything you do with grit and a growth mindset. Discovering and refining your one thing could be a lifelong process. It’s okay for...

When asked what the hardest part of caring for an individual with dementia, many caregivers will respond with some aspect of an activity of daily living (ADL).  Many of the problems faced during these ADLs are rooted in the patient’s inability to communicate. Too many times we use the excuse of "I'm just a SLP" when issues about toileting, showering, or dressing come up. However, as experts in communication we need to use our skills during these very important tasks! Check out the great...

The knowledge and hands-on experience you gain in graduate school is invaluable, and it is important to have a strong academic and clinical foundation as you enter the workforce. However, textbook definitions of communication disorders are not enough to provide meaningful, patient specific therapy. By incorporating techniques such as ethnographic interviewing and patient-centered care and utilizing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), we can discover that our patients are more than (and...

As a specialist we enter a team with our own agenda and expertise related to our field. Most speech-language pathologists find themselves on a team of other specialists and family members who bring their own agenda and expertise to the table. In order to collaborate effectively as a team we must take the perspective, or step into another person’s point of view, of the other team members. Considering multiple perspectives facilitates mutual goal setting and intervention related to an...

Childhood cancer patients are surviving longer that ever before but continue to experience chronic illness and life-altering deficits from their cancer and it’s treatment. We have to shift our focus from just helping these patients survive to helping patients thrive after cancer. Survivorship has unique implications for speech-language pathologists. Check out what Kristin has to say on this topic and be sure to look into the resources provided on...

As we learn, mistakes are expected. However, as SLPs in-training, we are also expected to maintain professional communication and be open to critique. Learning how to be wrong in the right way can help build your confidence while allowing you to develop professionally. It can be hard to be wrong, especially when learning. But, being wrong in the right way can preserve your confidence and give you space to develop professionally. Check out additional resources at...