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2014 national conference news

18–21 May, 2014 Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Keynote and Invited Presenters

Professor Sue Roulstone ’s keynote presentation “Exploring the relationship between client perspectives, clinical expertise, and research evidence” was an excellent start to the Conference ensuring that the audience was immediately enmeshed with the Conference theme.

The Conference Planning Committee (CPC) was delighted to welcome over 760 attendees to Melbourne for connections: client.clinician.context . connections: client.clinician.context was a busy hub of activity in central Melbourne with delegates having the opportunity to attend keynotes and clinical and research paper presentations across the range of practice areas that triangulated the key concepts of the clinician, the client, and the therapeutic context. Master Classes Professor Sue Roulstone started the Conference week presenting her masterclass “A ‘life-sentence’ of intervention or targeted support?: Designing outcome-based interventions in speech-language pathology” to a large and keen audience. Participants engaged in animated discussions with many key and pertinent questions raised. Dr Susan Langmore followed with an equally large and interested audience with her presentation on “How to predict and prevent aspiration pneumonia in patients with dysphagia”. Again the audience raised pertinent clinical questions and participated in many and varied discussions. The masterclasses were very well received with discussions continuing on into the Conference week. A number of delegates attended both sessions highlighting the esteem in which both presenters are held. Opening Address Hanna Mitchell , speech pathologist,

Professor Roulstone outlined the methodical work that she and her colleagues completed across a number of years, work that provided many insights into the client and family’s perspective of intervention and that raised questions regarding the evidence base of our current interventions.

Professor Jacinta Douglas , the invited presenter of the 2014 Elizabeth Usher Memorial Lecture, presented an outstanding talk taking the audience on an exploration of the impact of communication disorder on the individual. Key was the impact on self

– that communication is a stressful experience for those with communication impairment, the importance and need to reconstruct one’s self following communication loss/ impairment, and placing therapy in the context of self – that is, understand the person from their own perspective. Professor Douglas’ presentation had everyone riveted from start to end and garnered endless positive reports, facilitating much discussion on this core concept.

Dr Susan Langmore ’s keynote address reminded delegates of the importance of seeking an evidence base for dysphagia practice whilst her workshop explored her use of FEES in the evaluation and treatment of dysphagia. Dr Langmore’s clinical and research experience enabled

her to pertinently discuss the literature whilst always remaining focused on the clients that we support – a useful reminder for all clinicians. I would like to extend a very big thank you to the Board of Speech Pathology Australia and National Office staff for their ongoing support and advice during the Conference planning period. Posters There was an impressive array of 45 posters on display during the Conference. These were universally well received and represented a very diverse range of clinical and research topics. Many poster authors were engaged in deep discussion during the formal poster sessions.

had the audience in tears and received a standing ovation for describing her difficult and

courageous experience as a survivor of stroke. Hanna’s ability to provide

incredible insights from the perspective of both a speech pathologist and of an individual receiving rehabilitation resonated strongly with the audience. Discussion of Hanna’s presentation continued throughout the week and one suspects, will continue long into the future.

18 Speak Out August 2014

Speech Pathology Australia