Speak Out OCTOBER 2019 V3 DIGITAL EDITION

Branch News

Aged care expo success

WA

The WA branch was proud to exhibit at the Care and Ageing Expo at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on 3 and 4 August. This is the first time Speech Pathology Australia has exhibited at this annual expo, which saw over 1600 people through the doors over two days. This was a great opportunity to spread awareness of the role of speech pathologists in the Aged Care space, and at such a critical time with the Royal Commission in to Aged Care currently well underway. We were able to speak to a wide range of stakeholders; GP’s, nurses, care staff, workplace trainers, suppliers, residential care providers, and of course family members and elderly individuals; all of whom were very interested in hearing more about our role, scope of practice, cost and accessibility of services, IDDSI and communication supports. Some particular highlights from the day included: getting involved with a dysphagia research project headed by a local GP, making links with a local newspaper wanting to publish more good-news stories by SP’s, and connecting workplace trainers with the IDDSI framework for the first time. Thank you to all the volunteers to assisted with the expo and making it a great success!

WA 1091 members as at August2019

Speech Pathology Week WA This year the WA Branch hosted a range of events to celebrate Speech Pathology Week. The WA Branch coordinated with the City of Joondalup to integrate volunteer speech pathologists into the library book sharing sessions hosted at various library locations. The speech pathologists provided handouts to families at these book sharing sessions and answered questions related to speech and language development in an attempt to promote our role and raise awareness of speech and language difficulties for children. This was well received by families at these sessions as well as the library staff. In addition to this exciting partnership, the WA Branch also held a market stall at the Stirling Farmers Markets in Speech Pathology Week to inform members of the public of what our role is as speech pathologists and answer any questions that people had. There were lots of handouts and freebies to be given out, which were well engaged with overall. A big thank you from the branch to all the wonderful volunteers who helped out with the library sessions and the market stall! Emma Corry Public Affairs Representative

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October 2019 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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