Speech Pathologist Stephanie Dunn shares impact of care on patient.

Josie was checking in on her neighbour one morning last September when she suddenly felt disoriented.    

Paramedics rushed the grandmother to RPA Hospital, where healthcare staff confirmed she had had a stroke.    

"I didn’t see or feel anything, I thought I was okay, I was walking around," she said.    

The stroke affected Josie's ability to read, write and speak and she'd often forget the names of people or objects.    

"I was like a child, I'd look at the words and think 'What are those words?'," she said.    

Josie was referred to our District’s Stroke Outreach Service for home-based rehabilitation with a multidisciplinary team who are specially trained to provide goal-oriented stroke therapy.    

One in every seven Australians will experience a communication difficulty in their lifetime.    

Speech Pathology Week, 20 to 26 August, highlights the role of speech pathologists like Stephanie Dunn in supporting people's quality of life.    

Stephanie worked with Josie to help her regain her communication skills.  

"The first time we read a short story it took her almost 21 minutes, but, by the end of the therapy block, she was reading fluently and with confidence and was able to read the same story in four minutes," Stephanie said.  

"Speech pathology is such a diverse area of practice that I don't think people fully understand our role," she said.   

"The impact of speech pathology can be quite vast and significant.   

"For example, we're able to provide patients with the ability to swallow safely again, communicate with friends or family or return to work with confidence post-stroke.     

"I'm lucky to work with inspiring, empowering, and driven speech pathologists, and I know that no matter what patient we're seeing, we're providing them with the utmost care and education so that they can be involved in their health care journey and make informed decisions along the way."  

The feeling was mutual for Josie, who can now confidently read stories with her grandchildren.   

"Stephanie knew what I was thinking and what I was doing, and she'd understand, she'd turn things around to help me understand," she said.   

"She really was wonderful, and everyone that came to help when I was in the rehab, everyone was lovely." 

Speech pathologists are a significant part of the District’s dynamic and diverse Allied Health workforce, who work together to deliver evidence-based patient centred care.  

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