Communication service provision and access for people with Parkinson’s disease in Australia: A national survey of speech-language pathologists

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the clinical practices of Australian speech-language pathologists in the management of communication disorders in people with Parkinson’s disease (PwPD) and their perspectives on service provision.

Method: A cross-sectional, mix-methods online survey was conducted. Nonprobability, purposive sampling was utilised to recruit speech-language pathologists who currently work with PwPD. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were employed.

Result: Ninety-nine clinicians responded. Most offered services for both motor speech and cognitive-communication disorders, but a greater focus on the motor speech disorder was evident. A range of impairment and functional assessments and interventions were reported. Therapy was most commonly delivered one session a week over 4 or 6 weeks. Service, client and evidence barriers in the management of both communication disorders were identified. Most clinicians felt PwPD accessed communication services at stages later than optimal, they recognised a need to improve their services in varying degrees (92.3%), and believed not enough services exist for PwPD in Australia (78%). Cognitive-communication management was the highest requested area for further research evidence.

Conclusion: This study captured the current practices of Australian speech-language pathologists in the management of communication disorders in PwPD. Findings may inform future service planning, research on service effectiveness and new management targets.

Keywords:

• Parkinson’s disease
• speech-language pathology
• practice

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the participants for their time and contribution.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2018.1537372.