JCPSLP Vol 18 No 3 2016

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JCPSLP Volume 18, Number 3 2016 133
to achieve the goals for each child, in order to maximise
intervention outcomes. Staff are easily able to identify
a child’s unique strengths and needs, and determine
what services are necessary to meet those needs. ORH
is continuously developing, evaluating and refining this
new model for early intervention services in Vietnam so
that it can be introduced to other organisations in HCMC
and southern Vietnam. When this new model is further
developed and there are enough staff members, ORH will
accept staff members from other organisations who wish
to learn about, and implement, the model. Coaching and
supported practice in other organisations will be provided.
This vignette illustrates one approach to indigenisation of a
western model of good practice in early intervention to the
Vietnamese context. In the absence of sufficient speech-
language therapists, an available workforce of allied health
and education professionals has been trained to deliver
early intervention services which include foci on
communication and social development. This training and
deployment of existing workers also assists the
sustainability of the service.
Vignette 4. Training basic
paediatric speech therapy
practical skills for staff at Đà Nẵng
University of Medical Technology
and Pharmacy
Trà Thanh Tâm and Hoàng Văn Quyên
In recent years, significant progress has been made in
Vietnam in public health in terms of health professional
expertise and service quality. Most of the 33 speech
therapy graduates to date from University Pham Ngoc
Thach work in Ho Chi Minh City. Rapidly developing cities
such as Đà N ẵng have well-established medical services
but do not yet have speech therapy education and
services.
In order to increase availability of information about
speech therapy and also accessibility to speech therapy
services for people in central Vietnam, the authors, who are
September 2012 graduates of the course at University
Pham Ngoc Thach now working at Children’s Hospital No.1
(CH No.1), HCMC, have developed and delivered a basic
training program in speech therapy for physiotherapy
lecturers at Đà Nẵng University of Medical Technology and
Pharmacy (DUMPT). It was a challenge for us to ensure
continuity of speech therapy services at CH No.1, while
also preparing the course, and compiling training resources
to meet the learning needs of participants in the upcoming
training course. The participants had little concept of
speech therapy so we had to consider this as well in our
planning.
After a six-week theoretical training course in Đà Nẵ ng in
2014, we continued mentoring the participants by phone
and email. In 2015, DUMTP sent four lecturers to CH No.1
to continue with the speech therapy clinical training. This
clinical training block lasted six months. In the first two
months, we helped participants synthesise knowledge they
had learned in Đà Nẵng while providing new knowledge of
speech therapy, such as (a) typical communication
developmental milestones from infancy to 5 years, (b)
speech therapy for children with cleft lip and palate, (c)
speech therapy and intervention for feeding/eating in
improved self-confidence and satisfaction with new learning
from this Art Group are sufficient to justify some formal
research on conducting independently assessed clinical
trials of this therapy process.
The volunteer participation of art students promoted wider
community engagement and has ensured the economic
viability and sustainability of the program. A public exhibition
of participants’ art was opened in October 2014. The
attendance of high-ranking government officials and staff of
several hospitals plus extensive media coverage has helped
to raise public awareness of the potential possibilities for
people to find meaningful lives after acquired or congenital
brain dysfunction. This engagement of hospital and
government officials is a strategic approach to ensuring
support and sustainability of the program.
Vignette 3. A new model of public
early intervention services with an
interdisciplinary team
Le Thi Thanh Xuan
In Vietnam, most early intervention centres are private, with
preschool teachers, psychologists or special education
teachers on staff. Typically, a psychologist or doctor
assesses children, and teachers develop and deliver an
intervention plan, without parental involvement. Intervention
goals are focused on cognitive and academic tasks,
without attention to social, communication and speech
development goals. Children from low and average income
families rarely can afford to attend the centres, as fees
range from 7 to 15 mill VND (about A$400–$870) per
annum. In December 2014, the Orthopedics and
Rehabilitation Hospital (ORH) of Ho Chi Minh City
established public early intervention services for children
with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with staff from
different professions involved, including speech therapists,
psychologists, social workers, special education teachers,
physiotherapists, and occupational therapists. A means-
tested fee is charged ranging from 4–4.2mill VND (about
A$233–$245). This fee includes lunch, morning/afternoon
tea, and activity consumables.
The model at ORH is adapted from Australian
interdisciplinary models for early intervention, which I
observed on a study tour to Melbourne in mid-2015. I
coach the ORH team to work collaboratively with each
other and with parents to develop intervention goals
targeting play, social, self-help, communication, and
language goals for each child. Intervention is based on
each child’s current ability and interest, helping her or him
to be active in interaction and initiating communication.
There are currently 20 children attending three classes of
early intervention services per week in groups of three to
four children. Children attend class from 7:00 am to 16:00
pm; rest time is from 11:30 am to 14:00 pm. I train parents
to use communication development approaches and AAC
at home. The involvement of parents is indispensable and
extends the intervention from the centre to the children’s
homes. We keep data on children’s improvement to reflect
on the impact of the early intervention service and modify it
as needed.
With this interdisciplinary early intervention model, the
staff has the advantage of increasing knowledge of other
professions and sharing their skill set. Team meetings
provide an opportunity for staff to share ideas for how
Hoàng Văn
Quyên (top), Le
Thi Dao (centre)
and Lindy
McAllister