Speak Out April 2019

Clinical education in AGED CARE CLINICAL EDUCATION IS CRITICAL TO PREPARING FUTURE GENERATIONS OF SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS, PROVIDING A BRIDGE BETWEEN UNIVERSITY LEARNING AND CLINICAL PRACTICE.

medical practitioners, and specialists. It is common for students to both deliver education to other professionals and aged care staff, and to receive education from others in the interprofessional team. In many programs, students are also required to complete research or project-based work to advance the evidence base or develop resources for use by other students, residents, and staff. Learning how to work with, learn from, and provide education to other disciplines is a critical skill for successful employment and career development. For the residents and the facilities… Despite the potential of speech pathology input in aged care, services in aged care facilities have traditionally been limited to the assessment of swallowing. Speech pathology student placements allow facilities to offer residents speech pathology support for communication and broader mealtime needs that would otherwise not be provided. By receiving support for these needs, residents may be better able to contribute to decisions about their care, actively participate in activities of daily living, and engage in social and recreational activities. For facilities, student placements may be viewed as a valuable ‘additional service’ offered by the facility. Such services offer a competitive advantage that may be used to attract potential residents to the facility and contribute to meeting industry accreditation requirements. For speech pathologists and universities… Speech pathologists working in residential aged care emphasise that student placements should not replace the ‘bread and butter’ work of qualified clinicians but rather support and enhance current practice. Student placements offer an extra service that the speech pathologist can provide to the facility showcasing what can be done when services are extended beyond swallowing. With most residents of aged care facilities experiencing communication, swallowing, and/or mealtime difficulties, aged

As the number of universities offering speech pathology courses has increased, so has demand for student placements. Aged care facilities offer substantial potential for student placements with unique benefits for universities, students, residents, facility staff, and speech pathologists. Most universities now include aged care placements as a core part of their clinical education program with the structure and nature of these placements as diverse as the needs of the residents, the speech pathologists that service aged care facilities, and the facilities themselves. Why consider a placement in residential aged care? What are the benefits? For the students… Residents of aged care facilities experience a wide range and severity of communication and mealtime difficulties. Most are neurological or sensory in origin, with the impact of these difficulties often compounded by comorbid frailty, depression, anxiety, the resource constraints of the facility, and limited family and community support. In aged care, students apply their theoretical knowledge and practical learning from the classroom to compare and contrast normal ageing processes with disordered communication, swallowing, and mealtime skills, with a focus on the functional impact of these difficulties. Students may undertake screening assessments, as well as both formal and informal assessments. Subsequent therapy may be provided to individuals or in a group. For students further along in their clinical journey, aged care can provide a supported platform to discuss ethical implications of practice and gain insight into specialist areas of practice, including, behaviour management, cognitive-communication as well as palliative and end of life care. Providing evidence-based care to older people requires coordinated, collaborative, person-centred care. Students in aged care often experience multi, inter, and transdisciplinary work teams within the one facility. They work closely with nursing staff and vocationally trained carers, other allied health professionals,

16

April 2019 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

Speak Out