Pediatric speech-language pathology in East Africa: educational opportunities and availability of speech-language services

Abstract

Objective

This paper describes the current situation of the provision of speech-language services in East Africa. An overview of the educational opportunities, workforce density, communication rehabilitation planning, caseload, and ethical and/or cultural challenges is provided.

Method

A narrative review was performed. All papers referring to communication disorders in East African countries were identified from EMBASE, PubMed, ISI Web of Science: Science Citation Index Expanded, and ISI Web of Science: Conference Proceedings Citation Index-Science using the following search terms: speech therapy, speech pathology, speech-language pathology, speech-language rehabilitation, speech-language therapy, logopedics, East Africa, communication disorders, communication difficulties. Two concepts were combined with a Boolean operator ‘AND’.

Results

At present, there is an alarming shortage of speech-language pathologists in East Africa. This issue is mainly related to the limited availability of educational programs in speech-language pathology. Although more and more universities are beginning to offer such educational programs, the number of available speech-language pathologists is still too low to meet the needs of all children with communication disorders. In addition, speech-language pathologists are often faced with different cultural and ethical obstacles when they provide intervention to East African children with communication disorders. These speech-language pathologists are therefore challenged to take a broader view of their role as a therapist. These alternative roles often include training of other individuals in the context of community-based rehabilitation.

Conclusion

In the future, it will be important to carefully consider the development of sustainable learning opportunities in East African contexts. Initiatives, for example, “train-the-trainer” workshops, are needed to support the speechlanguage pathologists. Existing models like the communication disability model can aid to create holistic frameworks for the development of sustainable speech-language services in the East African countries.

Keywords:

• Global health
• speech-language pathology
• East Africa
• education

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The first author was funded by a PhD Grant of the Research Fund Flanders (1120919N).

Notes on contributors

Cassandra Alighieri

Cassandra Alighieri PhD is a post-doctoral researcher at the Center of Speech and Language Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium. Her research mainly focuses on the effectiveness of speech intervention techniques to eliminate cleft-related speech sound disorders and pediatric speech disorders. In 2021, she was elected as one of the five most promising young researchers in Belgium by EOS Science Magazine and she won the EOS Audience Award for her Ph.D. thesis on evidence-based speech intervention in children with a cleft palate.

Marlies De Bock

Marlies De Bock Bachelor of Science in Medicine, participated in this project as part of the Honours Programme at Ghent University, Belgium.

George Galiwango

George Galiwango MBChB, FCS Plast Surg.-ECSA, is plastic surgeon and head of the Department of Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery at the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services in Uganda (CoRSU) Hospital. His expertise is related to cleft surgery, microsurgery, orthoplastic surgery, post-burn reconstruction and head and neck surgery.

Daniel Sseremba

Daniel Sseremba is speech-language pathologist at the Comprehensive Rehabilitation Services in Uganda (CoRSU) Hospital. His main clinical expertise is related to the treatment of pediatric speech and language disorders.

Kristiane Van Lierde

Kristiane Van Lierde is Professor of Speech and Language Pathology at Ghent University, Belgium. Her research expertise is the assessment and treatment of voice, speech, resonance; and oromyofunctional disorders. In this field of study, she authored more than 160 peer-reviewed publications. Furthermore, she is the (co-)supervisor of 8 finished PhD projects and 5 running PhD projects. She is member of the editorial board of the Journal of Voice, member of the international selection commission of the young investigator award regarding voice research and past-president of the standing committee of craniofacial dysmorphologies and related disorders of the International Association of Logopaedics and Phoniatrics.