Facilitating speech pathologists’ role in working with people with dementia

As a result of an aging population, dementia is recognised as a global health problem.The prevalence of dementia cases is expected to increase drastically in the coming years and will represent a burden to the economy and society. Consequently, dementia will affect allied health professionals’ workloads as well. Dementia is an umbrella term for several diseases and symptoms, and leads to changes in responsive behaviours. Changes affect thinking, memory, reasoning, language, and daily behaviour such as eating and swallowing. This has an impact on a person’s ability to participate in daily activities and socialise with family members and carers. Speech pathologists (SPs) have the expertise to provide support and intervention for people with dementia in areas of communication and swallowing. Despite growing literature addressing effectiveness of approaches and strategies for communication, swallowing, and feeding, there has been little previous data on current clinical practice of Australian SPs in the management of dementia. Furthermore, the role of SPs and collaboration with other allied health professionals when working with people with dementia is undefined. The current research aimed to increase understanding of SP practice in Australia on the practice continuum of dementia and to explore professional needs in order to facilitate clinical practice for people with dementia and their families and carers.