SpeakOut_Oct2015_FINAL_lo res

11 / 36

Speak Out October 2015 11
spWEEK 2015
Thank you to everyone who was involved or participated in Speech
Pathology Week in 2015. The feedback from those ‘at the coalface’ was that
the public awareness campaign was successful in making more Australians
aware of those in our community who have a communication or swallowing
difficulty.
The Association ran a dedicated social media campaign throughout August
to promote the week, through its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts,
using the @SpeechPathAus handle and the #Talkwithme and #SPweek
hashtags. The Instagram and Facebook campaigns included photographs
and comments from National Office staff and Association Board Directors
in an effort to help ‘put a face to the name’. As a result of the campaign, the
Association has been able to significantly increase its followers on all three
social media platforms.
The distribution of 140,000 postcards was a first for the Association during
Speech Pathology Week. The postcards distributed through around 1,500
venues across Australia helped give the campaign a national impact. The
success or otherwise of the postcard campaign is still to be assessed,
though the ‘Talk with me’ page on the website was in the top 10 pages
visited on the Association’s website during the month of August.
Speech Pathology Week (23–29 August) saw the Association’s President,
Gaenor Dixon, hitting the airwaves in a concerted radio media campaign. The
Association was able to secure a number of radio interviews during the course
of the week, all helping to promote the campaign theme: Talk with me. The
media highlight of the week was an hour-long session on ABC Radio Brisbane
with Kelly Higgins-Devine speaking with Gaenor Dixon, Professor Deborah
Theodoros, and Professor Linda Worrall and her client Bruce Aisthorpe, about
the challenges faced by speech pathologists in handling communication and
swallowing disorders, and importantly, the significant and life-changing impact
of these disorders on children and adults alike.
There was also an on-the-ground campaign conducted by individual
Speech Pathology Association members and their Branches. Displays in
libraries, newspaper and radio interviews, and ‘Talk with me’ events, all helped
to promote Speech Pathology Week, the speech pathology profession and the
issues surrounding communication and swallowing disorders. At the two ends
of the same spectrum, Kathy Osborne on the Gold Coast, secured a ‘Talk with
me’ display in the Runaway Bay Library; and in Karratha, Irene Long spoke
with Radio ABC Kimberley (Broome) about the challenges of being a speech
pathologist in North West Western Australia.
‘Down under’, the Tasmanian Branch had ‘bestselling’ success with their
No Bars On Books campaign in the lead-up to and during Speech
Pathology Week. Led by Branch Chair, Rosie Martin, and ably assisted by
Linda Williams, Nicole Hatch and Catherine Wood, and many others, the
Branch ran a hugely effective community-wide campaign that resulted in
the donation of more than 3,500 new and quality second hand books for
a program to help prisoners read to their children. The No Bars On Books
initiative was conducted in partnership with 936 ABC Local Radio, LINC
Tasmania, the Tasmania Prison Service, the Department of Education, and
26Ten. The initiative was publicly endorsed by the Tasmanian Commissioner
for Police and the State’s Attorney-General and Minister for Corrections.
Michael Kerrisk
Communications and Marketing Manager
SPWeek 2015 – #Talkwithme