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Telepractice in COVID-19 and beyond

COVID-19 has suddenly forced health professionals to switch from face-to-face to remote video conferencing to deliver many or most of their services. This article considers the current state of this service delivery model (also called telepractice) for speech and language...

RCT: tongue retaining devices vs CPAP for OSA

This study compared the effect of a tongue retaining device versus the use of CPAP in 27 patients within a crossover RCT design. Tongue retaining devices (also known as tongue stabilising devices), are similar in appearance to a plastic tongue-sized...

Future practice: tele-rehabilitation in speech and language therapy

It is known that our population is ageing, resulting in an increase in the number of people living with progressive neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Health services endeavour to deliver specialist and personalised care to all these people, often...

Quality of life in adolescence

Adolescence can be a difficult time and the added complexity of a hearing loss can exacerbate feelings during this period. In the literature, there are mixed findings that show while some children with hearing loss score poorly on some aspects...

Speech analysis via mobile phone – is there an app for that?

Experienced ENT surgeons will often be able to discern the likelihood of significant laryngeal pathology in a patient referred with dysphonia by the sound of their voice during the initial history-taking phase of a consultation. With the move earlier in...

Telepractice for the delivery of paediatric feeding services

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, telepractice is being heralded as the safest service delivery mode for the majority of outpatient consultations. Patients are reviewed by their healthcare specialist through video consultations, thus avoiding the need for patients to leave their...

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation for OSA

Hypoglossal nerve stimulation has been lauded as the great new surgical treatment panacea for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA). This meta-analysis includes 12 studies with a total of 350 patients, including the five-year follow-up data from the STAR trial which was...

Do it like a techy: telepractice in SLT for people with Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurological condition in Australia, and communication difficulties are reported by 90% of people with the condition. Unfortunately, not all people with PD have access to speech and language therapy services due to...

Online group therapy is easier but is it better?

Aphasia is a communication disability caused by stroke, brain injury or dementia. People with aphasia benefit from both the emotional and communication support that group therapy can provide, yet there can be many barriers to accessing this type of intervention,...

Spread the therapy thick and quick to make sure it works

Speech sound disorders, such as apraxia, can negatively impact a child’s wellbeing - both their social wellbeing and their academic achievement. Traditionally speech and language therapy has attempted to remediate these difficulties using auditory feedback. More recently, advances in technology...