SpeakOut_Feb2014_electronic

BRANCH NEWS WESTERN AUSTRALIA

THE DEVELOPMENT of the Speech Pathology program at Edith Cowan University in Perth has been accompanied by significant research activity, with the Speech Pathology team currently working on two large projects receiving over $1.4M from the National Health Medical Research Council in 2013. Dr Erin Godecke (post-doctoral research fellow) and Prof Beth Armstrong are leading Australia’s largest clinical trial in aphasia rehabilitation in stroke, the Very Early Rehabilitation in SpEech (VERSE) project. This trial is the first of its kind in Australia and will investigate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of very early aphasia therapy in stroke recovery. The VERSE project will assess the effects of intensive therapy at 12 weeks and 26 weeks post-stroke. In describing the VERSE project, Dr Godecke explains that one of the questions being asked is how intense early speech pathology service should be. Dr Godecke and Prof Armstrong are acutely aware that the demands on hospital therapists are already more than their capacity, making it crucial that the efficacy of more therapy is proven before it is prescribed. The VERSE clinical trial is being conducted in 12 sites across Australia, involving a national collaboration over three years. Recruitment for the trial will begin in early 2014 and will continue for two years before the results are published internationally. The second project involves Professor Armstrong leading a team of WA researchers in exploring the experiences The VERSE and Missing Voices projects

From left, Beth Armstrong and Erin Godecke.

(ACD) after stroke and traumatic brain injury. The Missing Voices project is a collaboration between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal researchers and involves six sites across WA including rural, remote and urban centres. Aboriginal people are known to have a higher incidence of both stroke and traumatic brain injury than non-Aboriginal people, are more likely to be more dependent at discharge from hospital, are less likely to receive allied health assessments in the early days after admission, and are rarely seen for long- term rehabilitation by speech pathologists. With virtually no existing research in the area of communication disorder, the project aims to document what the journey of an Aboriginal person with an ACD might actually look like, and to explore new service delivery models that are culturally appropriate and accessible. Interviews will be held with both health professionals and Aboriginal people with ACD and their families and these are currently underway in Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Albany and Perth, with more taking place in the northern regions of WA later this year.

The project will also further explore the scale of the problem through use of the WA Linked Data set which will examine admissions to hospital in six different sites, diagnosis of communication disorder, and involvement of speech pathology services. This data will be complemented by information gained from descriptive file audits at each site. A culturally appropriate communication disorder screening tool is also being developed to support better identification of acquired communication disorders in Aboriginal people. Extensive consultation with Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal health workers has been undertaken, and the piloting of the tool will take place this year. It’s been a busy few years at Edith Cowan. As the Speech Pathology team grows, we look to the future which will involve both exciting research and curriculum developments.

MEAGHAN M c ALLISTER Research Project Coordinator

of Aboriginal people living with an acquired communication disorder

26 Speak Out February 2014

Speech Pathology Australia