Exploring the Development of Rehabilitation in Haiti: The Factors that Support Project Sustainability

This culminating project for the capstone experience involved a virtual collaboration with Faculté des Sciences de Réhabilitation de Léogane in Haiti and the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada to identify sustainable factors of projects within a developing country. Agencé Universitaire de la Francophonie- Community of Practice project (AUF2-CoP) is an initiative to encourage collaboration, share knowledge amongst the rehab community in Haiti, and empower, among other goals. In Haiti, there is only one educational OT program and less than 5 full-time clinicians in the country. Throughout this capstone experience, an understanding of the factors that influence project retention and rehab sustainability was identified. This insight into rehab in a developing country reflects the international implications of the practice of OT and the limited reach despite the high demand

Speech-Language Pathologists in Disaster Management: Team Roles

Purpose: Disaster management is a topic that is multi-faceted and intricately maintained by the professionals who volunteer their expertise and time to assist those who have been affected by an unforeseen disaster. Creating a well-rounded and effective team is of immense importance during disaster situations; speech-language pathologists (SLPs) can provide vital skills in the realm of communication, feeding, and other areas. However, the role of SLPs within the disaster management team is not well documented in the literature. The purpose of the study was to identify awareness, involvement, and training of SLPs in disaster management cycles through exploration of their self-reported knowledge, skills, and roles in order to better understand their likelihood of response and potential collaborative roles within the team. Method: To explore how SLPs view themselves as part of the disaster management cycle, a cross-sectional survey study was designed. The study specifically targeted licensed, SLPs within the state of Florida. Results: There were 216 viable survey responses to analyze. Upon rendering of the data, a descriptive and correlational analysis was conducted to further examine how speech-language professionals perceive their fit in the arena of disaster management. SLPs who responded to this survey were primarily white, 40–49-year-old females who had experienced some form of disaster. Most respondents reported receiving no training for disaster management; however, they indicated that SLPs and other healthcare professionals have unique skills that could contribute to disaster cycles. Although there was reportedly limited training and guidance available and minimal professional experience with disaster, SLPs who reported having professional experience with disaster cycles, indicated an increased likelihood of participating in future disaster response. Conclusions: Similar to interdisciplinary teams found in clinical practice, healthcare professionals need training and education about their roles to form teams to holistically address the needs of clients in all disaster management stages. Analyses show SLPs feel they could provide important contributions to the interdisciplinary disaster management team; however, they have not had adequate professional experience or training

Speech-Language Pathologists and Disaster Management: Team Roles

Purpose: Disaster management is a topic that is multi-faceted and intricately maintained by professionals who volunteer their expertise and time to assist those who have been affected by an unforeseen disaster. Creating a well-rounded and effective team is of immense importance during disaster situations. Speech-language pathologists can provide vital skills in the realm of communication, feeding, and other areas. However, the role of speech language pathologists within the disaster management team is not well documented in the literature. The purpose of the study was to identify awareness, involvement, and training of speech language pathologists in disaster management stages through exploration of their self-reported knowledge, skills, and roles to better understand their likelihood of response and potential collaborative roles within a disaster management team. Method: To gather data on self-reported awareness, knowledge, skills, participation, training, and perceptions of speech language pathologists as part of the disaster management stage, a cross-sectional survey study was designed. The study specifically targeted licensed speech language pathologists within the state of Florida. Results: There were 216 viable survey responses to analyze. Descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted to examine how speech-language professionals perceive their fit in the arena of disaster management. Speech language pathologists who responded to this survey were primarily white, 40–49-year-old females who had experienced some form of disaster. Most respondents reported receiving no training in disaster management; however, they indicated that speech language pathologists and other healthcare professionals have unique skills that could contribute to disaster management stages. Although there was reportedly limited training and guidance available and minimal professional experience with disaster, speech language pathologists who reported having professional experience with disaster stages, indicated an increased likelihood of participating in future disaster management. Conclusions: Similar to interdisciplinary teams found in clinical practice, healthcare professionals need training and education about their roles to form teams to address the needs of individuals in all disaster management stages. Analyses indicated that speech language pathologists perceive themselves, and other healthcare professionals, could provide meaningful contributions to the disaster management team; however, they have not had adequate professional experience or training

Substance use history in behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia versus primary progressive aphasia

BACKGROUND: As older adults are prone to cognitive disorders, the interaction of the fields of substance use and misuse and cognitive neuroscience is an emerging area of research. Substance use has been reported in some subtypes of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), such as behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). However, characterization of substance use in other subtypes of FTD, such as primary progressive aphasia (PPAPH), is unknown. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this baseline analysis was to explore whether any measures of substance use history differed significantly among bvFTD (n = 842) and PPAPH (n = 526) in a large national dataset. DESIGN/METHODS: The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center’s (NACC) Uniform Data Set (UDS) study is a national dataset that collects data on patients with various cognitive disorders and includes some questions on substance use. We used each substance use variable as the outcome and the FTD subtype as the predictor. RESULTS: Total years smoked cigarettes, age when last smoked cigarettes, and average # of packs/day smoked when participants smoked, and any recent, remote, or combined recent/remote history of alcohol abuse or drug abuse did not significantly differ between the bvFTD and PPAPH subtypes (all p-values > 0.001). A significantly greater percentage of participants smoked in the last 30 days in the bvFTD subtype (10.4%, n = 834) compared to the PPAPH subtype (3.3%, n = 517) (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: Clinical providers in both the dementia and substance use fields are encouraged to screen for and monitor substance use in all FTD subtypes