The Value of Meeting Your Clients in the Community

Think about the last location where you provided clinical services. Mine was a grocery store. The produce section is not the only place I provide services  with my adult clients—I also address address speech intelligibility and social communication goals at coffee shops, money management at banks, divided attention at soup kitchens, sequencing at golf courses, and reading comprehension during book club at the library. These locations might seem unconventional, but they represent real-life community settings in which to help my clients—who mostly have acquired brain injuries or dementia—integrate back into their community and regain those life skills most important to them. I admit, it’s more convenient to work in an office where materials are within arm’s reach. But when clients walk out of our offices, they need to transfer skills learned in a clinical setting into their natural environments. Rather than rely on my clients’ self-reported, perceived skill levels in their environments, I prefer to gather a realistic view of their abilities by going with them to real-world settings. I see my clients gain three key benefits when I take them from the clinic into the community: One size (does not) fit all: Community settings allow me to learn my clients’ values and preferences—a principle of evidenced-based practice. I discover these preferences during the assessment process by gathering details on daily routines, hobbies, vocational interests, educational goals, ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Private Practice Slider Speech-Language Pathology Cognitive Rehabilitation dementia Language Disorders Source Type: blogs