Working with Māori adults with aphasia: an online professional development course for speech-language therapists

ABSTRACT

Background: This paper presents the pilot testing of an online professional development (PD) course for New Zealand (NZ) speech-language therapists (SLTs) working with Māori with stroke-related communication disorders (predominantly aphasia). Taking a public health approach and focusing on the context of Māori as Indigenous peoples in a colonised society, the course lays the foundation for aphasia management for Māori. It consists of two modules. Module One addresses health inequities, social determinants of health, racism, the Treaty of Waitangi, cultural safety and power inherent in the role of the SLT. Module Two includes specific information about providing therapy for Māori stroke patients (particularly those with aphasia) and family members and working with Māori health colleagues.

Aim: The primary aim was to ascertain the impact of the course on participants’ clinical practice with Māori with aphasia. A secondary aim was to examine participants’ assessment of the content and delivery of the course.

Methods & Procedures: This was a qualitative longitudinal pilot study. Eleven SLTs completed the online course, immediately followed by a survey in which they gave feedback on the course and named three activities they would do to apply their learning in the following six months. Eight participants were available for interview six months later. Interviews aimed to ascertain what participants learned from the course, how they applied their learning and how the course could be improved. Interview data were analysed using a “general inductive approach”, in conjunction with responses to the survey.

Outcomes & Results: Interview findings were divided into two main themes – “putting it into practice” which revealed what participants learned and how they applied their learning and “keeping it at the forefront” which focused on maintaining that learning and practice, including reflection on the course content and delivery. All participants were positive about the course and all would recommend it to colleagues.

Conclusions: The pilot testing revealed that participants made positive changes to their practice as a result of their learning. Challenges inherent in completing the course and applying learning and suggestions for improvement were also identified. Although the course content is NZ-specific, many of the ideas in the course are relevant to numerous multiethnic contexts across the world in which the speech-language therapy culture in service delivery could be impacted by issues such as power, racism, and inequity.

KEYWORDS:

• Māori
• cultural safety
• professional development
• online learning
• public health

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge Caroline Bartholomew (when she was an MSLTPrac student) for her contribution to this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. MELAA stands for Middle Eastern/Latin American/African. It is an aggregate category in NZ ethnicity data.

2. Te Tiriti o Waitangi was signed in 1840 between representatives of the British Crown and some Māori chiefs. For further details about te tiriti and its relevance to SLT practice in NZ see Brewer and Andrews (2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand under [Grant 14/081].