Communication Capacity Research in the Majority World: Supporting the human right to communication specialist services

Abstract

Receipt of accessible and appropriate specialist services and resources by all people with communication and/or swallowing disability is a human right; however, it is a right rarely achieved in either Minority or Majority World contexts. This paper considers communication specialists' efforts to provide sustainable services for people with communication difficulties living in Majority World countries. The commentary draws on human rights literature, particularly Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Communication Capacity Research program that includes: (1) gathering knowledge from policy and literature; (2) gathering knowledge from the community; (3) understanding speech, language and literacy use and proficiency; and (4) developing culturally and linguistically appropriate resources and assessments. To inform the development of resources and assessments that could be used by speech-language pathologists as well as other communication specialists in Fiji, the Communication Capacity Research program involved collection and analysis of data from multiple sources including 144 community members, 75 school students and their families, and 25 teachers. The Communication Capacity Research program may be applicable for achieving the development of evidence-based, culturally and linguistically sustainable SLP services in similar contexts.

Collaborative counselling: influence on the teaching professionals’ conceptions as promoters of children’s communication and language

“…The results described above confirm that the three professionals started the intervention with an outdated way of conceiving their professional role, the classroom organisation and the kind of the activities that favour the development of communication and language. Those initial conceptions are framed within a specialist model that is considered obsolete in many countries because it does not align with current evidence-based approaches to supporting students with disabilities in the school context, and does not uphold children's rights to participate in the curriculum (Gallagher, Tancredi, & Graham, 2018;Hopf, 2018;McEwin & Santow, 2018;Murphy, Lyons, Carroll, Caulfield, & De Paor, 2018). Although the research shows poor results in terms of children's language development with this specialist intervention approach in comparison to other more socio-interactive models (DeVeney, Hagaman, & Bjornsen, 2017), this model is still frequently used in Spanish special schools (Luque, Hernández, Fernández, & Carrión, 2019;Muntaner, 2019).…”

Systems Approaches to Occupational Vocal Health: Considerations for Community Faith Leaders

“…skills, roles, impairment) and broader systemic factors (e.g. activities, participation in health-related and broader life domains) (Hopf, 2018 ; Mulcair et al, 2018 ; Threats & Worrall, 2004 ; World Health Organization, 2001 ).…”

“…Religious and spiritual practices are clearly detailed within the ICF (Cerniauskaite et al, 2011 ; Mathisen & Threats, 2018 ) (see Table 7 ). The ICF also explicitly describes communication considerations, including voice (Hopf, 2018 ; Oates, 2011 ; Threats & Worrall, 2004 ; World Health Organization, 2001 ). Praying, chanting, and singing for religious purposes and spiritual contemplation are examples of vocal behaviours undertaken by faith leaders that are also included in the ICF (WHO, 2001 ; see Table 7 ; Mathisen & Threats, 2018 , pp.…”