146: The One Thing: SLPs + ADLs + Dementia with Adria Thompson MA, CCC-SLP

This episode is about empathy in uncomfortable situations (e.g. when colleagues challenge your practice, patients get angry with your recommendations, doctors/nurses push back). We will discuss how stepping out of your own experience and expertise and putting energy into understanding the experience, anger, and frustration of others can be a powerful tool towards mutual growth, even if it’s the most uncomfortable part of your job. Check out the great resources at https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/152

My guest, Stephanie Johnson, wants SLPs, future SLPs, and basically everyone to know that the end matters! Our field is uniquely positioned to advocate and support a new approach to end of life care. Communication is a key part of end of life planning. From comprehension and health literacy to expressing goals of care, connecting with loved ones, and enjoying food- SLPs can assist in all aspects. Death positivity and end of life care planning is actually life affirming. It’s a focus on what matters, what we want, how we want to spend our time and energy. It’s about living… And dying. Dig deeper with the resources provided at: https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/151

Remember that we’re all humans before we’re therapists. This is not only our cue to listen and counsel as appropriate, but our reminder to ask the patient how they’re doing before asking them orientation questions. This extends into every area of our care. Our jobs don’t stop at the end of our session. Learn more at https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/150

One area my guest, Tyler Roman feels speech therapy sometimes struggles is fitting into the IPR puzzle. Many patients want to focus on motor recovery and are not yet experiencing difficulties in daily tasks they were completing prior to their hospitalization. Many times CEUs/blog posts focus on the acute setting or functional cognition with home health/outpatient focus. Tyler recommends talking to your PT/OT counterparts and see where breakdowns in ADL/IADLs are occurring during therapy. Also, adapt “traditional” therapies to incorporate feedback from teammates to address breakdowns. Check out additional resources at: https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/149

Buckle up for a wild ride on this week's conversation regarding access to education, tools, resources for speech and language pathologists. Julie is also interested in how this topic connects with why Leigh Ann took a break from podcasting for 9 months. Then we circle back to how paywalls impact who gets access resulting in disparities. Join us on a chaos-driven conversation about barriers to continuing education. Great resources in the show notes on https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/148

Rinki wants you to know that your “one thing” may constantly change - as you, your interests, skills, and practices evolve with time. You can work towards finding and achieving your one thing with S.M.A.R.T. goal setting, focusing on one project at a time, pursuing things that feel authentic to you and align with your values, trusting your gut, and doing everything you do with grit and a growth mindset. Discovering and refining your one thing could be a lifelong process. It’s okay for everyone’s journey to look different. Success is not linear. It is sequential and exponential. Let’s continue to work towards it, one thing at a time! Dig deeper in resources provided at https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/147

When asked what the hardest part of caring for an individual with dementia, many caregivers will respond with some aspect of an activity of daily living (ADL).  Many of the problems faced during these ADLs are rooted in the patient’s inability to communicate. Too many times we use the excuse of "I'm just a SLP" when issues about toileting, showering, or dressing come up. However, as experts in communication we need to use our skills during these very important tasks! Check out the great resources to dig deeper in this topic at https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/146

The knowledge and hands-on experience you gain in graduate school is invaluable, and it is important to have a strong academic and clinical foundation as you enter the workforce. However, textbook definitions of communication disorders are not enough to provide meaningful, patient specific therapy. By incorporating techniques such as ethnographic interviewing and patient-centered care and utilizing patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), we can discover that our patients are more than (and don’t often fit) the textbook definition. You’re going to learn so much in graduate school, but our patients aren’t textbook. They will, however, be the ones who teach you the most. Show notes with lots of awesome resources: https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/145

As a specialist we enter a team with our own agenda and expertise related to our field. Most speech-language pathologists find themselves on a team of other specialists and family members who bring their own agenda and expertise to the table. In order to collaborate effectively as a team we must take the perspective, or step into another person’s point of view, of the other team members. Considering multiple perspectives facilitates mutual goal setting and intervention related to an individual’s needs.  Check out the show notes for access to more resources! https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/144

Childhood cancer patients are surviving longer that ever before but continue to experience chronic illness and life-altering deficits from their cancer and it’s treatment. We have to shift our focus from just helping these patients survive to helping patients thrive after cancer. Survivorship has unique implications for speech-language pathologists. Check out what Kristin has to say on this topic and be sure to look into the resources provided on https://www.speechuncensored.com/podcastepisodes/143