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Speech Pathology 2030 - making futures happen
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5. SKILLED AND CONFIDENT FAMILIES AND CARERS
“My family tries to double or triple up
on our therapy experience. Mum, dad,
grandparents, extended family all try
to attend sessions at various times.
We try to engage the whole family
because we’ve found over the years
that while sessions bring about small
spikes in understanding, the real change
happens on a day to day basis. We’re
all involved and we feel like mini speech
pathologists!”
“More support is needed at the start. A
mentoring program would be good with
parents who have older children (like me)
supporting the parents of a 3-year-old to
say ‘this is the journey we’ve been on’.”
“I’d love it if my son and I could go to a
centre that would be all about the love
of language and communication. There
would be people who were inspired
and relating in a fun way….I’d love to
go every day for 1 hour and work on
his language with all the books and
games and computers and equipment
and someone would come around like a
gym instructor to coach you...a focus on
developing a community of parents.”
“One-on-one practice at home can be
quite isolating and overwhelming.”
“There’s so much power in a support
group.”
O
ur roles extend beyond the services we provide to
individuals with communication or eating and drinking
difficulties. Our role in building the capacity of our
clients’ families, friends and carers can be as equally
important as they shape and sustain their relationships with
their loved ones and support their communication, eating and
drinking goals. Often the whole family is on a shared journey
and we know their role makes a big difference to how things
unfold.
We will ensure families, friends and carers have access to
appropriate knowledge and support, and will recognise their
needs are connected to, but also unique and separate from,
those of the client. To achieve this we will invest time to
understand each family and relevant family member’s story,
including their goals, strengths, capacity and needs, as well
as their preferred ways of doing things. We will integrate this
knowledge into how we support and respond to the goals of
our clients.
We will make sure families, friends and carers have access to
all the information they seek and need and will take time to
build their knowledge about the nature of their family member’s
communication, eating or drinking difficulties, the impact of the
disorder, and practical ways to provide support consistent with
client goals and readily incorporated into daily life.
We will build the capacity of our entire workforce to understand
and successfully work with the families, friends and
communities of people who are recognised as experiencing
greater vulnerability, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander families and communities; families from culturally
and linguistically diverse backgrounds who have recently
migrated to Australia or arrived seeking asylum; and those who
experience significant poverty and disadvantage.
We are increasingly aware professional services can only ever
be part of the picture in responding to the needs of families,
friends and carers. The chance to connect with others who
share similar experiences can offer valuable assistance, advice
and support. We will help establish systems of family support,
facilitate links between individual families with similar needs,
and increase awareness of opportunities to engage with local
face-to-face groups, and online support mechanisms within
and beyond Australia.
We recognise families and other support people often
undertake the unfamiliar and complex task of case
management and advocacy, scheduling and liaising with a
wide range of different services. We will collaborate to develop
service systems to simplify and streamline this process, with the
goal of reducing personal and financial costs.
Just as we work holistically to support our clients’ goals and
aspirations, we will apply this perspective to their families and
others who support them. We will be alert to their overall well-
being and ensure their access to relevant services.
In our clients’ words:
“
”