JCPSLP Voll 15 No 3 Nov 2013

Interprofessional education and practice

Addressing the challenges of clinical education Conversation partner training for speech-language pathology students Louise Wilkinson, Tracy Sheldrick, Robyn O’Halloran and Rachel Davenport

This paper describes a collaborative partnership between the Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre and La Trobe University to provide speech-language pathology students with a one-day experiential communication skills workshop. The workshop focused on the development of student knowledge, confidence and the communication skills required to effectively interact with adults with communication disabilities. The program, outcomes, challenges and future directions of the program are described. E ffective communication skills are a fundamental professional competency for all entry level healthcare profession students (McAllister, 2005) because communication is the medium through which quality health care is provided (Burns, Baylor, Morris, McNalley, & Yorkston, 2012). Entry level speech-language pathology (SLP) students need to develop exceptional communication skills as many of their clients also require specific conversational support to communicate effectively. La Trobe University (LTU) SLP students have often reported challenges conversing with adults with communication disabilities. They have found it difficult to use age-appropriate communication strategies to support both social and therapeutic interactions effectively. These observations have been supported by a recent study that examined the confidence and knowledge of SLP students prior to clinical placement about communicating with people with aphasia. This study found SLP students were not confident about communicating with people with aphasia and demonstrated limited knowledge about the range of communication strategies they could use despite having completed academic coursework on aphasia (Finch, Fleming, Brown, Lethlean, Cameron & McPhail, 2013). This should not be surprising as research suggests conversing effectively with someone who has a communication disability such as aphasia is not an intuitive behaviour, but requires skill and experience to acquire (Kagan & Gailey, 1993; Parr & Byng, 1998). Research in experiential learning also supports the need for students to engage in learning situations that enable them to integrate their knowledge, perceptions, experiences and behaviour in order to achieve transformational learning (Best, Rose, &

Edwards, 2005). LTU wanted to provide their SLP students with an experiential learning opportunity in order to acquire the communication skills they would need to be able to communicate effectively with adults with communication disabilities. Simmons-Mackie, Raymer, Armstrong, Holland and Cherney (2010) describe communication partner training (CPT) as an intervention directed at the conversation partners of the person with aphasia, with the intent of improving the language, communication, participation and/ or well-being of the person with aphasia. Communication partners are the people who interact with the person with aphasia. They are often family members, friends, health care providers or volunteers (Simmons-Mackie et al., 2010). According to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework (ICF; WHO, 2001), CPT is a form of environmental intervention because it focuses on enhancing the skills and abilities of people in the person’s communicative environment. Simmons-Mackie et al. (2010) conducted a systematic review of 31 CPT intervention studies. The majority of studies involved directly training communication partners and integrated role plays or actual interactions with people with aphasia into the training. Sessions were typically 1 to 2 hours in length, up to four times per week. Early intervention studies tended to focus on providing training to family and friends, whereas interventions from the late 1990s onwards reflected an increased focus on training service providers such as health care professionals and volunteers to enhance the participation of the person with aphasia in the wider community. Despite the fact that the intervention studies were of variable methodological quality, Cherney, Simmons-Mackie, Raymer, Armstrong and Holland (2013) were able to conclude that conversation partner training was an effective way of improving the conversation partner’s communication skills in supporting communication of people with aphasia and that these skills are maintained over time. CPT was considered appropriate and highly relevant for SLP students who are regular communication partners for people with aphasia and other communication disabilities. This paper describes a collaborative partnership between Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre (RTRC) Austin Health and the Department of Human Communication Sciences at LTU to provide undergraduate and master’s SLP students with a one-day experiential CPT workshop. The objectives of the workshop were for students to:

Keywords adult communication disability clinical education communication university and health service collaboration This article has been peer- reviewed partner training

Louise Wilkinson (top) and Tracy Sheldrick

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JCPSLP Volume 15, Number 3 2013

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology