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Communication rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa: A workforce profile of speech and language therapists

WYLIE, Karen
MCALLISTER, Lindy
DAVIDSON, Bronwyn
MARSHALL, Julie
2016

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Background: There is an urgent global need to strengthen rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. In sub-Saharan Africa, rehabilitation services for people with communication disabilities continue to be underdeveloped. A first step in strengthening services for people with a communication disabilities is to understand the composition and conditions of the current workforce.


Objectives: This research describes a sample of the speech and language therapists (SLTs) working in SSA (excluding South Africa). This study explores the characteristics of this workforce, including their demographics, education, experience and geographical stability.


Method: A mixed-methods survey was used to collect data from SLTs within Anglophone countries of SSA. Completed surveys were received from 33 respondents working in 44 jobs across nine countries. Analysis included descriptive and non-parametric inferential statistics. This study reports on a subset of descriptive and quantitative data from the wider survey.


Results: A background profile of SLTs across the region is presented. Results indicated that the workforce of SLTs comprised a mix of local and international SLTs, with university-level education. Local SLTs were educated both within and outside of Africa, with more recent graduates trained in Africa. These data reflected the local emergence of speech and language therapy training in SSA.


Conclusion: This sample comprised a mix of African and international SLTs, with indications of growing localisation of the workforce. Workforce localisation offers potential advantages of linguistic diversity and stability. Challenges including workforce support and developing culturally and contextually relevant SLT practices are discussed.
 

Understanding Hearing Impairment in Individuals from a Perspective of Social and Emotional Functioning

Kodali, Prakash Babu
CT, Anitha
Kopparty, Swarajya
2016

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Purpose: Hearing Impairment is one of the most neglected forms of disability. It accounts for the loss of thousands of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) worldwide (WHO, 2005). Developed countries have made some progress in the measuring and management of hearing impairment (HI), but this is still in the initial stages in developing countries such as India. The International Classification of Functioning disability and Health (ICF) has shifted the approach towards a holistic perspective in defining and measuring disability. This paper tries to measure HI from the perspective of social and emotional functioning of individuals.

 

Method: The sample population consisted of 1160 individuals, selected by systematic random sampling from among those who complied with inclusion criteria. 51.7% of the total respondents were females, and 48.3% were males. The participants were administered a questionnaire (Standardised) and their responses were quantified. The data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.

 

Results: Prevalence of HI was found more among males than females. 84.6% of the total population had no hearing impairment, whereas 13.7% had mild to moderate impairment, and 1.7% had significant hearing impairment. The TotalImpairment score obtained by the individuals was divided into Social Impairment score and Emotional Impairment score. Correlation and Multivariate regression analysis were used. Correlation - Age and Social Dimension Score r= 0.609,p≤0.01, n=1160, R2= 0.370; Age and Emotional Dimension score: r= 0.622, p≤0.01, n=1160, R2= 0.386; Regression- Gender and Social Dimension score b= 0.703, t (1160) = 2.988, p<0.05; Age and Total HI score b= 0.787, t (1160) =27.096, p< 0.01.

 

Conclusion: Measuring HI in terms of social and emotional functioning is more holistic and cost-effective, and could be used in resource-poor settings, and for initial screening in large-scale studies.

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