WEBVTT
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Hello and welcome back to Age Compass, where we're navigating aging and dementia together.
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Now we're back for part two of our conversation with the legend speech pathologist Sophie.
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Welcome, Sophie.
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Thank you.
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Good to be back.
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Thank you for coming back.
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So we ended the last episode.
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We were talking about how it's important for family members or carers to be involved in communication strategies for someone that has had a decline in their communication skills.
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So I was wondering if you could just provide some examples of what a family might do if someone is having difficulty communicating.
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Absolutely.
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And I think it probably comes down into two areas of really practical things that you can give or might be quite concrete, and also some tips and strategies on how to communicate and just things to keep in mind and understand.
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So in terms of actual concrete things that we'll often start to establish when we go in and meet someone with dementia or suggest, and it's whether we go and see them for swallowing difficulties or communication changes, these are things that we're encouraging.
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So the first one is having something like a memory book.
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When communication changes, the most success you're going to have is communicating about things that are familiar and well known to the person.
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And it takes a lot of the pressure off.
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If you have a photo album of different things that have happened through their life, a lot of different memories, people, everything like that, it is going to make their communication much more successful.
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Um, when you've got that kind of visual prompt, you're always going to have more success.
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Right.
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So a lot more of the brain is stimulated, then, isn't it?
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Exactly.
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So instead of going into someone and and relying on them to tell a story and a person and explain who they are and how they're related to you and you know who they're married to, who their children are, that there's so many questions within that that we're wanting to know the answer for.
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But having a photo album can actually jog a lot of that communication.
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Yeah, so it's not giving them the answers, it's just a visual prompt for them to search for the information.
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Right.
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Absolutely.
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And because it is quite it is very isolating when you start to lose your communication and you want to, you know, be a part of conversations with your loved ones or in social settings, things like that, and you kind of lose that ability to effectively communicate, having a tool like that to refer back to can be really helpful.
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Um, so I always encourage people to get kind of a memory book started.
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Um and sometimes we go and see people that maybe have really reduced vision or can't really engage with a memory book as such, and in which case, something that I encourage is creating a bit of like a communication history book.
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Um, so it would be like more writing, I suppose, and not as much made for the person with the diagnosis of dementia, but more so the people around them.
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So, for example, um I'm seeing a man at the moment, um, and sometimes he'll want to tell me stories about a specific person, but I can't figure out who it is, and he doesn't have anyone else at home, it's just him.
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Um, so we're trying to create a bit of a communication history book because he's bringing up things that are that are important to him.
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And unfortunately, myself with no context of his previous life, I don't know what he's talking about.
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And I can't kind of draw the connections about his family and wider family and where he's lived before and holidays he's been on.
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So, as someone close to the person with dementia, creating a little bit of a book that someone can go through and kind of draw those gaps with the person because it is a bit of figuring out.
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Um, and the person with dementia is often aware of that.
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But if you can help them figure that out instead of putting all the onus on them to get that word or that explanation out, that's going to help a lot.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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So it's more just sometimes a book that it might, you haven't might have a page listing all the family members.
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And, you know, Bob is married to Joan, and this is their kids, and like almost a bit of a family tree.
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Um, and then you might have, you know, important holidays they've been on before, like big holidays that they've always talked about and always reflected on.
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Um, you might have certain context about sports they've loved to play, or you know, sports they like to watch, things like that.
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Anything that's been important to them throughout their life, um, pop it down in the book because it can really help the people that are working with your family as well.
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Um, but also help you to kind of draw those connections and have something visual to refer back on.
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That is that is a very useful tip there.
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Um and another thing I get quite passionate about is how much I think people underestimate non-verbal communication actually communicates to someone if their uh the senses are declining and their communication skills are declining, they're still able to pick up cues of non-verbal communication.
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Can you explain some importance about how we need to be aware of that?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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I think that there's probably like two sides to this.
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The the first one I'm gonna mention is being comfortable in the silence.
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And this is something that was taught to me when I was a student, and it was a phrase that was used, and it's really stuck by me as probably one of the main things.
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If I was to tell anyone, if I was to give you one tip when communicating with anyone with communication difficulties, be comfortable in the silence.
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You know, it's gonna take them extra time to understand what you're saying, um, to be able to process that information.
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We I think today is such a fast-paced world that we're often trying to fill every single gap.
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This is true.
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This is very, very true.
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You know, we're not often just sitting there and doing absolutely nothing with no stimulation.
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And I think I've experienced people before where I've given them literally like two minutes to answer a question and they've come out with the answer two minutes later.
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And I've just sat there waiting to see if they'd come out with anything, not putting any pressure on, asking that initial question and just seeing what they do with it.
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So I think we've got to make sure that we're giving people time and being comfortable in that silence just for a moment.
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That is quite important because I think it's quite empowering for that person to have been able to solve that communication issue themselves.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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And if we're cutting them off at every option, you know, finishing all their sentences, doing all of that, it's probably not going to help them in the long term because we're not giving them that option to kind of find those words and they're practicing those skills again.
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Yeah, that's a great practice opportunity.
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Um, so I think that's really important, and I think that then links back to what you were saying about the non-verbal communication.
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Um, and it's important for the person with dementia and the communication partners to sometimes have that silence, you know, it is so demanding if you go and visit someone and you're trying to carry a conversation with them for two hours.
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It's exhausting.
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Exhausting.
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So sometimes looking for ways that you can share in an activity without having to actually verbally communicate.
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Like, you know, even if it was watching an episode of one of your favorite TV shows or, you know, the chase.
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Yeah, or some songs and some songs, or you know, doing a bit of colouring in, like something like that that doesn't have a really high communication demand, but you can kind of just sit and enjoy it together.
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And I think it's a, you know, a way that you can have healthier time where there's no demands on either of you, and you can just kind of be in that presence because that presence with someone, that being comfortable in someone's presence and having someone around and knowing they're around is I think one of the best ways to support communication and and support well-being as well.
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Yeah, that's very important to know.
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Yeah, without placing that demand on them all the time to communicate.
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Yeah, no, that's a great tip.
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Yeah, I think that be comfortable in the silence.
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And then, like you said, just other activities.
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I know I I was definitely guilty of impatience and jumping in and filling the word, and then in turn that would frustrate my mum.
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So I definitely noticed our visits got a lot more comfortable and a lot more pleasant the more patient I was to let her word find.
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Yeah, and then I did notice she did feel definitely quite chuffed with herself when she was able to get it.
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So, yeah, it's definitely undervalued that ability.
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It's natural to want to jump in, like you don't know what you don't know.
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Um, and as humans, like you see someone struggling, you want to help, right?
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So, like if they can't get the word and you know what they're talking about, you want to give it to them.
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Um, it's just a catch if we're wrong.
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Very true, very true.
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And then you end up going around the whole circle again.
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Um, but yeah, just something to keep in mind, kind of reducing that communication demand a little bit on you both.
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And you know, looking at those um photo albums are another great one that has a little bit of communication demand, but but less so, and you can both have joint conversations about that.
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It's not one person or the other leading that conversation, but you're you're communicating about a joint subject or yeah, it's a shared experience.
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Exactly, exactly.
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No, I love those, I love those ideas, yeah.
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And I think it's important to be wary of our tone and things as well when we're communicating, because that's the other side of nonverbal communication.
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Yes, I I have to agree with you there.
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Yes.
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Um, because one of the things that maintain, and and this is for quite a range of people, if you're having difficulty communicating and understanding um in particular, and you know, I always use the example of if you were in a foreign country and didn't know the language, you can very quickly tell how someone's feeling by the tone of their voice.
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And you rely on that.
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So if someone came over to you and yelled something in a foreign language that you didn't understand that language, you're gonna know they're angry.
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Uh or you're gonna know they're happy, and you kind of draw your own conclusions about what might be happening based on their tones rather than the words, because we can't understand the words.
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That's a great example to put it into perspective for us, like right here, right now.
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Exactly.
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So with the communication difficulty, sometimes it can it's like not understanding a foreign language because someone's talking, but you just can't quite understand what they're saying.
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So, in which case, tone and your facial expression and your gesture is all really important because that's what they're gonna pick up on.
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Yes.
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So if you potentially go into someone and just not not in a very good mood and you say like something, you know, even just a greeting, but you're you're kind of quite down and maybe Hi Joan.
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Exactly, exactly.
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They're probably gonna think off the bat that they might have done something to annoy you, or you might not be on the same page, or there's kind of an elephant in the room there.
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Yes, it is.
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I notice that a bit with fast-paced kind of task-driven, and you know, I understand everyone has time pressures, but I definitely see a difference in communication, even for people that are completely non-verbal.
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If that melody and tone of the conversation is morning, Joan, how are you today?
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You know, get up get you up and about, ready for a freshen up.
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It's that nice melody, uplifting, you know, I'm not tensing my eyebrows, I'm not, you know, looking angry or like fast pace driven, more relaxed.
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And I definitely see it's a it's a much nicer experience.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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So I think, yeah, just being aware of those things and making sure that our facial expressions and gesture and tone are fitting how we're, you know, wanting that person to perceive us.
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Yes, because that is like what you're saying.
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That's the most beautiful example to say if we were communicating in a foreign language to someone, we do rely on that melody and tone of the conversation and our facials and our open-handed gestures.
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That is a brilliant example.
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I love that.
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Yeah.
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Um in one of our other conversations, we had many conversations about all sorts of things, but you mentioned something when you were working in the hospital setting that helped you as a medical professional.
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Can you explain more about that?
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Absolutely can.
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So I worked in a stroke rehabilitation inpatient environment um over in the UK for about a year and a half.
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Um, and in that setting, I really quickly learned how much context matters.
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Um, and after a stroke, if you don't know much about how communication can change, someone can lose all of their communication into the point that they can't answer yes-no questions, they can't verbally even speak a word.
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Oh wow.
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So there's a bit of a rush on it, I guess.
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Yeah, yeah.
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And you know, they might not have had any difficulties beforehand, but one of the things for stroke is it can change so quickly overnight, which I think is one that's it's so confronting about a stroke as well.
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Um, and yeah, with that communication, sometimes we would get people and we would look at their ability to follow a one-step instruction, like touching your nose.
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And can you answer yes or no to your name correctly?
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All of those things, and sometimes they would not be able to answer any of them correctly.
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Um, and they wouldn't able to be able to speak a word.
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And in that circumstance, you know, we would start doing therapy, try and get some some language out.
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Um, but one of the things that is so important is having an about me book or an about me page.
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Um, and I encourage anyone who um has a diagnosis or anything or is even doesn't, just to have a little page that if you know you're in poor health and expecting maybe, you know, that a fall is possible or a UTI where you might have to go to hospital.
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If you've had any hospital visits, it can be a really helpful thing to make, um, particularly if there is any communication difficulties.
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Because on this page, we would normally put the person's name, good place to start.
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Um, and then really simple things like um, you know, the important family who we might be contacting or talking to, you know, like the immediate family that's around.
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Um, even putting it something on, you know, that is always asked at hospital is do you want a cup of tea?
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And you want to get the cup of tea how you like your cup of tea.
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So that's a even a really important thing to be able to get a cup of tea as you like it can be so meaningful for someone when they can't communicate at all and they can't express that.
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And we've been giving them, you know, a white tea every time and they only drink a black tea.
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Or they only drink coffee.
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Exactly, exactly.
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Like that can be a really meaningful thing and a comfort at times.
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Yes, without that comfort, you're right.
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Exactly.
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Impact care.
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Yeah.
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So for us as health professionals, it can be so helpful just to have even the smallest little bit of context.
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And you know, they are often asking for their loved ones that are in their life.
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And and sometimes if we don't know it immediately and they've kind of come into us the day before and we haven't met any of the family yet, um, and we haven't had the opportunity to kind of make those connections, we're we're in the dark.
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And trying to figure out that communication can be really, really difficult.
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Um, and I often all the time hear now of people, the the communication partners or the carers that I see, and they're like, oh, you know, they go into hospital and the hospital's ringing me throughout the night because they can't understand what she wants or what she needs.
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And, you know, it's such a stress on that person, you know, they're already they're going through a stressful time as well, and being woken up in the middle of the night to try and figure out communication between the staff member and and the person that their loved one in hospital can be really, really stressful.
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So just by creating a little simple page with the really important things, and it might be even something like they wash their hair twice a week, or you know, they always have their showers in the mornings, the things that would make them feel human and have that dignity, and you think that they couldn't go without, that's the really important things.
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Yeah, so that's it.
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So important comfort, really, isn't it?
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And also I think you you once mentioned uh just some dislikes.
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For example, someone's a vegetarian and you're serving them meat every day, a dislike would be Yep.
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And you can put allergies on there as well, which is always helpful.
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Um, but yeah, having the dislikes as well.
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Like, you know, they they hate watching home and away.
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Not me, but you know, some people hate it.
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So if you're making them watch home and away every single night at 7 p.m., it's probably gonna annoy them a little bit.
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So it's really just making kind of those things that you would want someone to know.
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And you know, even for some people it's been they wear lipstick every day, and that makes them feel kind of whole and put together.
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So why don't we do that in hospital?
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You know, it it's the same, it's no different.
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Um, so I always have I encourage people to have like often just an A4 sheet.
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If you can laminate it, great, because that will survive longer.
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Um, and often hospital, it needs to be laminated.
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Um, but then that can go with them as they transfer wards, go between ambulance and emergency, all of these things, just to give this person a little bit of dignity, take the pressure off them to communicate in that setting where their communication may already be worse due to whatever health crisis they're going through.
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Um, and just have get them to have that comfort and also take the stress off you knowing that those important things have been handed over and the health professionals are aware, and so it'll be okay.
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Yeah, and that's the thing.
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I think the more comfortable people are, the better they do recover.
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It just helps care, definitely.
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Absolutely.
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Um Sophie, just to close off, I just would I'm interested if you could share something you'd just like everybody to know about speech pathology that you could share with us.
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Yeah, I think a lot of people are often quite hesitant to get us in and often quite nervous and worried about us coming in, particularly in the in relation to swallowing, but also other areas.
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And I think just to to know we're not there to completely uproot your life and say you have to have a puree diet and you'll only eat puree ever again and have really thick fluids and all of these things.
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Um, and people often decline care because of this, like decline referrals that we've received because of these things.
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Um, and it's not the case.
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It's not the case.
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So don't be scared of you and don't be scared.
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Um, you know, our job, and I see like even in relation to swelling, our job is to come in and give you all the information so that you can make an educated decision and an informed choice.
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That's why we're there.
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At the end of the day, you can do whatever you want.
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Where, you know, you're not in jail.
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Yeah, you're just providing options.
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We're providing options.
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So yeah, I think it's always good to have those chats to know what your options are.
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Because really, we're empowered we we want to empower you to make the option and decision that's right for you to be able to access things that are going to help you and give you, let you know what's out there because sometimes we don't know what we don't know.
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So exactly right.
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Yeah, I think you know there's no harm in ever seeking any of the allied health supports and just getting, you know, a bit of an idea of what's going on, how we can help, if there are simple strategies, like we never jump to a puree diet straight away.
00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:27.680
Yeah, that's your last resort, isn't it?
00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:28.720
Exactly, exactly.
00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.720
We I I wouldn't want a puree diet, so I don't want my clients to have a puree diet.
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:39.519
So it's really just, you know, we we try everything in the book first, and if we need to go that direction, we'll have that discussion.
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:52.720
But there's so many things we can try first, and I think, you know, a lot of people don't know about all the intricacies of what we do, and that's why we're there to come and explain it and figure out what's going to be the right decision for you.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:53.440
That's amazing.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.000
And if nothing else, you get a two hour chat with Sophie.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:56.480
Exactly.
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.000
And I love a chat.
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:02.079
Sophie, thank you so much for coming on again.
00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:05.119
We really appreciate how much information you've shared with us.
00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:05.920
My pleasure.
00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.279
Thanks for having me.
00:00:01.439 --> 00:00:05.919
Hello and welcome back to Age Compass, where we're navigating aging and dementia together.
00:00:06.639 --> 00:00:12.720
Now we're back for part two of our conversation with the legend speech pathologist Sophie.
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Welcome, Sophie.
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Thank you.
00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:15.039
Good to be back.
00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:17.039
Thank you for coming back.
00:00:18.640 --> 00:00:20.719
So we ended the last episode.
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We were talking about how it's important for family members or carers to be involved in communication strategies for someone that has had a decline in their communication skills.
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So I was wondering if you could just provide some examples of what a family might do if someone is having difficulty communicating.
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Absolutely.
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And I think it probably comes down into two areas of really practical things that you can give or might be quite concrete, and also some tips and strategies on how to communicate and just things to keep in mind and understand.
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So in terms of actual concrete things that we'll often start to establish when we go in and meet someone with dementia or suggest, and it's whether we go and see them for swallowing difficulties or communication changes, these are things that we're encouraging.
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So the first one is having something like a memory book.
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When communication changes, the most success you're going to have is communicating about things that are familiar and well known to the person.
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And it takes a lot of the pressure off.
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If you have a photo album of different things that have happened through their life, a lot of different memories, people, everything like that, it is going to make their communication much more successful.
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Um, when you've got that kind of visual prompt, you're always going to have more success.
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Right.
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So a lot more of the brain is stimulated, then, isn't it?
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Exactly.
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So instead of going into someone and and relying on them to tell a story and a person and explain who they are and how they're related to you and you know who they're married to, who their children are, that there's so many questions within that that we're wanting to know the answer for.
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But having a photo album can actually jog a lot of that communication.
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Yeah, so it's not giving them the answers, it's just a visual prompt for them to search for the information.
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Right.
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Absolutely.
00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:33.520
And because it is quite it is very isolating when you start to lose your communication and you want to, you know, be a part of conversations with your loved ones or in social settings, things like that, and you kind of lose that ability to effectively communicate, having a tool like that to refer back to can be really helpful.
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Um, so I always encourage people to get kind of a memory book started.
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Um and sometimes we go and see people that maybe have really reduced vision or can't really engage with a memory book as such, and in which case, something that I encourage is creating a bit of like a communication history book.
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Um, so it would be like more writing, I suppose, and not as much made for the person with the diagnosis of dementia, but more so the people around them.
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So, for example, um I'm seeing a man at the moment, um, and sometimes he'll want to tell me stories about a specific person, but I can't figure out who it is, and he doesn't have anyone else at home, it's just him.
00:03:17.280 --> 00:03:23.759
Um, so we're trying to create a bit of a communication history book because he's bringing up things that are that are important to him.
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And unfortunately, myself with no context of his previous life, I don't know what he's talking about.
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And I can't kind of draw the connections about his family and wider family and where he's lived before and holidays he's been on.
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So, as someone close to the person with dementia, creating a little bit of a book that someone can go through and kind of draw those gaps with the person because it is a bit of figuring out.
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Um, and the person with dementia is often aware of that.
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But if you can help them figure that out instead of putting all the onus on them to get that word or that explanation out, that's going to help a lot.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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So it's more just sometimes a book that it might, you haven't might have a page listing all the family members.
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And, you know, Bob is married to Joan, and this is their kids, and like almost a bit of a family tree.
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Um, and then you might have, you know, important holidays they've been on before, like big holidays that they've always talked about and always reflected on.
00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:26.639
Um, you might have certain context about sports they've loved to play, or you know, sports they like to watch, things like that.
00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:34.879
Anything that's been important to them throughout their life, um, pop it down in the book because it can really help the people that are working with your family as well.
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Um, but also help you to kind of draw those connections and have something visual to refer back on.
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That is that is a very useful tip there.
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Um and another thing I get quite passionate about is how much I think people underestimate non-verbal communication actually communicates to someone if their uh the senses are declining and their communication skills are declining, they're still able to pick up cues of non-verbal communication.
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Can you explain some importance about how we need to be aware of that?
00:05:10.720 --> 00:05:11.839
Yeah, absolutely.
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I think that there's probably like two sides to this.
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The the first one I'm gonna mention is being comfortable in the silence.
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And this is something that was taught to me when I was a student, and it was a phrase that was used, and it's really stuck by me as probably one of the main things.
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If I was to tell anyone, if I was to give you one tip when communicating with anyone with communication difficulties, be comfortable in the silence.
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You know, it's gonna take them extra time to understand what you're saying, um, to be able to process that information.
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We I think today is such a fast-paced world that we're often trying to fill every single gap.
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This is true.
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This is very, very true.
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You know, we're not often just sitting there and doing absolutely nothing with no stimulation.
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And I think I've experienced people before where I've given them literally like two minutes to answer a question and they've come out with the answer two minutes later.
00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:09.680
And I've just sat there waiting to see if they'd come out with anything, not putting any pressure on, asking that initial question and just seeing what they do with it.
00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:15.199
So I think we've got to make sure that we're giving people time and being comfortable in that silence just for a moment.
00:06:15.519 --> 00:06:24.240
That is quite important because I think it's quite empowering for that person to have been able to solve that communication issue themselves.
00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:25.439
Absolutely, absolutely.
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:38.399
And if we're cutting them off at every option, you know, finishing all their sentences, doing all of that, it's probably not going to help them in the long term because we're not giving them that option to kind of find those words and they're practicing those skills again.
00:06:38.480 --> 00:06:40.800
Yeah, that's a great practice opportunity.
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Um, so I think that's really important, and I think that then links back to what you were saying about the non-verbal communication.
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Um, and it's important for the person with dementia and the communication partners to sometimes have that silence, you know, it is so demanding if you go and visit someone and you're trying to carry a conversation with them for two hours.
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It's exhausting.
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Exhausting.
00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:10.639
So sometimes looking for ways that you can share in an activity without having to actually verbally communicate.
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Like, you know, even if it was watching an episode of one of your favorite TV shows or, you know, the chase.
00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:27.680
Yeah, or some songs and some songs, or you know, doing a bit of colouring in, like something like that that doesn't have a really high communication demand, but you can kind of just sit and enjoy it together.
00:07:27.839 --> 00:07:48.079
And I think it's a, you know, a way that you can have healthier time where there's no demands on either of you, and you can just kind of be in that presence because that presence with someone, that being comfortable in someone's presence and having someone around and knowing they're around is I think one of the best ways to support communication and and support well-being as well.
00:07:48.319 --> 00:07:49.519
Yeah, that's very important to know.
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Yeah, without placing that demand on them all the time to communicate.
00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:55.279
Yeah, no, that's a great tip.
00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:58.160
Yeah, I think that be comfortable in the silence.
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And then, like you said, just other activities.
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I know I I was definitely guilty of impatience and jumping in and filling the word, and then in turn that would frustrate my mum.
00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:16.959
So I definitely noticed our visits got a lot more comfortable and a lot more pleasant the more patient I was to let her word find.
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Yeah, and then I did notice she did feel definitely quite chuffed with herself when she was able to get it.
00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:26.639
So, yeah, it's definitely undervalued that ability.
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It's natural to want to jump in, like you don't know what you don't know.
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Um, and as humans, like you see someone struggling, you want to help, right?
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So, like if they can't get the word and you know what they're talking about, you want to give it to them.
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Um, it's just a catch if we're wrong.
00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:44.159
Very true, very true.
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And then you end up going around the whole circle again.
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Um, but yeah, just something to keep in mind, kind of reducing that communication demand a little bit on you both.
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And you know, looking at those um photo albums are another great one that has a little bit of communication demand, but but less so, and you can both have joint conversations about that.
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:09.840
It's not one person or the other leading that conversation, but you're you're communicating about a joint subject or yeah, it's a shared experience.
00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:10.879
Exactly, exactly.
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No, I love those, I love those ideas, yeah.
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And I think it's important to be wary of our tone and things as well when we're communicating, because that's the other side of nonverbal communication.
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Yes, I I have to agree with you there.
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Yes.
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Um, because one of the things that maintain, and and this is for quite a range of people, if you're having difficulty communicating and understanding um in particular, and you know, I always use the example of if you were in a foreign country and didn't know the language, you can very quickly tell how someone's feeling by the tone of their voice.
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And you rely on that.
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So if someone came over to you and yelled something in a foreign language that you didn't understand that language, you're gonna know they're angry.
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Uh or you're gonna know they're happy, and you kind of draw your own conclusions about what might be happening based on their tones rather than the words, because we can't understand the words.
00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:05.279
That's a great example to put it into perspective for us, like right here, right now.
00:10:05.519 --> 00:10:05.840
Exactly.
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So with the communication difficulty, sometimes it can it's like not understanding a foreign language because someone's talking, but you just can't quite understand what they're saying.
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So, in which case, tone and your facial expression and your gesture is all really important because that's what they're gonna pick up on.
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Yes.
00:10:23.440 --> 00:10:35.840
So if you potentially go into someone and just not not in a very good mood and you say like something, you know, even just a greeting, but you're you're kind of quite down and maybe Hi Joan.
00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:37.600
Exactly, exactly.
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They're probably gonna think off the bat that they might have done something to annoy you, or you might not be on the same page, or there's kind of an elephant in the room there.
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Yes, it is.
00:10:48.399 --> 00:11:01.600
I notice that a bit with fast-paced kind of task-driven, and you know, I understand everyone has time pressures, but I definitely see a difference in communication, even for people that are completely non-verbal.
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If that melody and tone of the conversation is morning, Joan, how are you today?
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You know, get up get you up and about, ready for a freshen up.
00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:22.399
It's that nice melody, uplifting, you know, I'm not tensing my eyebrows, I'm not, you know, looking angry or like fast pace driven, more relaxed.
00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:26.000
And I definitely see it's a it's a much nicer experience.
00:11:26.399 --> 00:11:27.360
Absolutely, absolutely.
00:11:27.519 --> 00:11:39.279
So I think, yeah, just being aware of those things and making sure that our facial expressions and gesture and tone are fitting how we're, you know, wanting that person to perceive us.
00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:41.679
Yes, because that is like what you're saying.
00:11:41.919 --> 00:11:54.799
That's the most beautiful example to say if we were communicating in a foreign language to someone, we do rely on that melody and tone of the conversation and our facials and our open-handed gestures.
00:11:55.120 --> 00:11:56.559
That is a brilliant example.
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I love that.
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Yeah.
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:11.600
Um in one of our other conversations, we had many conversations about all sorts of things, but you mentioned something when you were working in the hospital setting that helped you as a medical professional.
00:12:12.399 --> 00:12:14.639
Can you explain more about that?
00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:15.919
Absolutely can.
00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:24.639
So I worked in a stroke rehabilitation inpatient environment um over in the UK for about a year and a half.
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Um, and in that setting, I really quickly learned how much context matters.
00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:42.879
Um, and after a stroke, if you don't know much about how communication can change, someone can lose all of their communication into the point that they can't answer yes-no questions, they can't verbally even speak a word.
00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:43.519
Oh wow.
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So there's a bit of a rush on it, I guess.
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Yeah, yeah.
00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:57.519
And you know, they might not have had any difficulties beforehand, but one of the things for stroke is it can change so quickly overnight, which I think is one that's it's so confronting about a stroke as well.
00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:06.720
Um, and yeah, with that communication, sometimes we would get people and we would look at their ability to follow a one-step instruction, like touching your nose.
00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.679
And can you answer yes or no to your name correctly?
00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:14.960
All of those things, and sometimes they would not be able to answer any of them correctly.
00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:19.279
Um, and they wouldn't able to be able to speak a word.
00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:26.399
And in that circumstance, you know, we would start doing therapy, try and get some some language out.
00:13:26.559 --> 00:13:33.440
Um, but one of the things that is so important is having an about me book or an about me page.
00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:50.559
Um, and I encourage anyone who um has a diagnosis or anything or is even doesn't, just to have a little page that if you know you're in poor health and expecting maybe, you know, that a fall is possible or a UTI where you might have to go to hospital.
00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:58.559
If you've had any hospital visits, it can be a really helpful thing to make, um, particularly if there is any communication difficulties.
00:13:58.799 --> 00:14:03.519
Because on this page, we would normally put the person's name, good place to start.
00:14:03.759 --> 00:14:13.440
Um, and then really simple things like um, you know, the important family who we might be contacting or talking to, you know, like the immediate family that's around.
00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:20.159
Um, even putting it something on, you know, that is always asked at hospital is do you want a cup of tea?
00:14:20.480 --> 00:14:24.559
And you want to get the cup of tea how you like your cup of tea.
00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:33.440
So that's a even a really important thing to be able to get a cup of tea as you like it can be so meaningful for someone when they can't communicate at all and they can't express that.
00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:38.399
And we've been giving them, you know, a white tea every time and they only drink a black tea.
00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:40.000
Or they only drink coffee.
00:14:40.639 --> 00:14:41.759
Exactly, exactly.
00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.879
Like that can be a really meaningful thing and a comfort at times.
00:14:45.039 --> 00:14:46.559
Yes, without that comfort, you're right.
00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:46.960
Exactly.
00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:47.919
Impact care.
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:48.480
Yeah.
00:14:48.720 --> 00:14:55.440
So for us as health professionals, it can be so helpful just to have even the smallest little bit of context.
00:14:55.600 --> 00:15:00.080
And you know, they are often asking for their loved ones that are in their life.
00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:14.000
And and sometimes if we don't know it immediately and they've kind of come into us the day before and we haven't met any of the family yet, um, and we haven't had the opportunity to kind of make those connections, we're we're in the dark.
00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.759
And trying to figure out that communication can be really, really difficult.
00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:32.879
Um, and I often all the time hear now of people, the the communication partners or the carers that I see, and they're like, oh, you know, they go into hospital and the hospital's ringing me throughout the night because they can't understand what she wants or what she needs.
00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:50.480
And, you know, it's such a stress on that person, you know, they're already they're going through a stressful time as well, and being woken up in the middle of the night to try and figure out communication between the staff member and and the person that their loved one in hospital can be really, really stressful.
00:15:50.639 --> 00:16:08.480
So just by creating a little simple page with the really important things, and it might be even something like they wash their hair twice a week, or you know, they always have their showers in the mornings, the things that would make them feel human and have that dignity, and you think that they couldn't go without, that's the really important things.
00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:09.600
Yeah, so that's it.
00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:11.840
So important comfort, really, isn't it?
00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:17.039
And also I think you you once mentioned uh just some dislikes.
00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:22.879
For example, someone's a vegetarian and you're serving them meat every day, a dislike would be Yep.
00:16:23.120 --> 00:16:26.159
And you can put allergies on there as well, which is always helpful.
00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.159
Um, but yeah, having the dislikes as well.
00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:31.279
Like, you know, they they hate watching home and away.
00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:33.440
Not me, but you know, some people hate it.
00:16:33.600 --> 00:16:38.879
So if you're making them watch home and away every single night at 7 p.m., it's probably gonna annoy them a little bit.
00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:43.360
So it's really just making kind of those things that you would want someone to know.
00:16:43.600 --> 00:16:50.559
And you know, even for some people it's been they wear lipstick every day, and that makes them feel kind of whole and put together.
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:52.720
So why don't we do that in hospital?
00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:55.039
You know, it it's the same, it's no different.
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.759
Um, so I always have I encourage people to have like often just an A4 sheet.
00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:02.639
If you can laminate it, great, because that will survive longer.
00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.359
Um, and often hospital, it needs to be laminated.
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:23.759
Um, but then that can go with them as they transfer wards, go between ambulance and emergency, all of these things, just to give this person a little bit of dignity, take the pressure off them to communicate in that setting where their communication may already be worse due to whatever health crisis they're going through.
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:36.079
Um, and just have get them to have that comfort and also take the stress off you knowing that those important things have been handed over and the health professionals are aware, and so it'll be okay.
00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:37.359
Yeah, and that's the thing.
00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:41.119
I think the more comfortable people are, the better they do recover.
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.039
It just helps care, definitely.
00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:44.079
Absolutely.
00:17:44.400 --> 00:17:55.440
Um Sophie, just to close off, I just would I'm interested if you could share something you'd just like everybody to know about speech pathology that you could share with us.
00:17:55.680 --> 00:18:06.880
Yeah, I think a lot of people are often quite hesitant to get us in and often quite nervous and worried about us coming in, particularly in the in relation to swallowing, but also other areas.
00:18:07.039 --> 00:18:19.200
And I think just to to know we're not there to completely uproot your life and say you have to have a puree diet and you'll only eat puree ever again and have really thick fluids and all of these things.
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:25.519
Um, and people often decline care because of this, like decline referrals that we've received because of these things.
00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:27.759
Um, and it's not the case.
00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:28.720
It's not the case.
00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:32.079
So don't be scared of you and don't be scared.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:44.720
Um, you know, our job, and I see like even in relation to swelling, our job is to come in and give you all the information so that you can make an educated decision and an informed choice.
00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:45.839
That's why we're there.
00:18:46.079 --> 00:18:48.000
At the end of the day, you can do whatever you want.
00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:50.319
Where, you know, you're not in jail.
00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.160
Yeah, you're just providing options.
00:18:52.400 --> 00:18:53.440
We're providing options.
00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:58.000
So yeah, I think it's always good to have those chats to know what your options are.
00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:11.200
Because really, we're empowered we we want to empower you to make the option and decision that's right for you to be able to access things that are going to help you and give you, let you know what's out there because sometimes we don't know what we don't know.
00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:12.480
So exactly right.
00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:25.920
Yeah, I think you know there's no harm in ever seeking any of the allied health supports and just getting, you know, a bit of an idea of what's going on, how we can help, if there are simple strategies, like we never jump to a puree diet straight away.
00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:27.680
Yeah, that's your last resort, isn't it?
00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:28.720
Exactly, exactly.
00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.720
We I I wouldn't want a puree diet, so I don't want my clients to have a puree diet.
00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:39.519
So it's really just, you know, we we try everything in the book first, and if we need to go that direction, we'll have that discussion.
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:52.720
But there's so many things we can try first, and I think, you know, a lot of people don't know about all the intricacies of what we do, and that's why we're there to come and explain it and figure out what's going to be the right decision for you.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:53.440
That's amazing.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:56.000
And if nothing else, you get a two hour chat with Sophie.
00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:56.480
Exactly.
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:58.000
And I love a chat.
00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:02.079
Sophie, thank you so much for coming on again.
00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:05.119
We really appreciate how much information you've shared with us.
00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:05.920
My pleasure.
00:20:06.079 --> 00:20:07.279
Thanks for having me.
