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Let’s Talk Therapy Awareness workshop

On the 14^th of March 2020, SLTFUG held its first awareness workshop termed as ‘Let’s Talk Therapy’. The theme of the workshop was ‘Managing communication and swallowing difficulties Together’. The aim of the workshop was to bring together all the members of the typical multidisciplinary, that is, the professional, parent and the teacher and have a discussion on how each member contributes to the wellbeing of the client in the therapy process.

The workshop was held at The Ark International Pre-school in Kololo from 9:00am to 2:00pm. SLTFUG was privileged to have five guest speakers as featured in the fliers below.

Approximately 50 people attended the workshop, some of whom were parents, teachers, Slt students and professionals.

SLTFUG would like to appreciate The Ark International Preschool and Daycare for partnering with us to make the workshop a success.

As compiled by Ms. Cynthia Nagasha

SLTFUG IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MENGO HOSPITAL COMMUNITY BASED HEALTHCARE PROGRAM.

In an effort to spread awareness of Communication and Swallowing Difficulties (CSDs) to the local communities, Speech and Language Therapy Foundation Uganda (SLTFUG), partnered with the Mengo Community Based Healthcare Program under Mengo Hospital. Through this applaudable initiative, medical professionals from Mengo Hospital provide free health care services to the surrounding communities on a frequency of one clinic per fortnight. These health care services include antenatal care, family planning services, general medical checkups and distribution of prescribed drugs.

SLTFUG was privileged to actively participate in this program in the community of Kawaala Zone- Rubaga division, in a total of four clinics from September 2019 to October 2019, as well as represent at the annual Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) exhibition, under the Hospital category of Mengo Hospital in Kololo on the 26^th of September 2019.

The role of SLTFUG in these clinics was; to assess the affected individuals and advise them accordingly, train and empower the caretakers with simple

strategies for continued care and support, address the people’s concerns, myths and beliefs that affect health seeking habits for CSDs, educate the people about the different CSDs that they might encounter and the role of Speech-language therapy in rehabilitating those conditions. The procedure for healthcare provided by SLTFUG in each clinic was as follows;

The present community members were gathered into one large group and educated about Speech-language therapy as a healthcare service and the different communication and swallowing conditions it addresses.
The community members were given an opportunity to share their questions and concerns and in turn SLTFUG addressed them.
The talk was then followed up by assessment and training sessions for the affected individuals.

SLTFUG observed a steady increase in the number of people with CSDs who came to the clinic as a result of the awareness talks. SLTFUG’s participation in the above program was spearheaded and executed by Ms. Catherine Nakawunde, the team leader of SLTFUG. She was joined by two SLTs who were volunteers of the foundation at the time, Ms. Nagasha Cynthia and Ms. Deborah Amaro during the different clinics.

SLTFUG is indebted to the following individuals for their great contribution towards our participation;

Sr. Emodu Margaret- Head In Charge of Mengo Community Based Health care Program
Sr. Ssendagala- Deputy In charge of the Mengo Community Based Health care Program. She updated SLTFUG on the dates of the different clinics.
Dr. Maxine Nahereza- He was the first medical officer who took keen interest in the difference that SLTFUG would make in the lives of the people in the community hence fostering our partnership.
Dr. Jonathan Erabu- A medical officer who worked with SLTFUG
Mr. Sserwaniko Wilberforce- He is the LC1 chairman of the Kawaala community in which the clinics were held. He hosted the community clinics at his home.

As compiled by,

Ms. Cynthia Nagasha,

PRO, SLTFUG.

SLTFUG’S UP COUNTRY PROJECTS

SLTFUG’S UP COUNTRY PROJECTS

The profession of Speech and language Therapy in Uganda has gradually gained exposure and credibility over the years ever since 2008 when the first undergraduate training course was introduced in Makerere University. However, out of the 134 districts in Uganda, Kampala, Wakiso, Entebbe, Jinja and Kasese districts are among the few districts with full time practicing Speech-Language Therapists (SLTS) -a meagre 3% of the country’s population. This means that approximately 97% of Uganda’s population neither has access to nor has knowledge about SLT services and yet at least one in ten families lives with or has come in contact with a person with a communication or swallowing difficulty. In light of this discrepancy, SLTFUG sought to extend affordable SLT services and information to the latter percentage of the country’s population through the organization’s mission, “To make speech- language therapy services accessible and affordable in every region in Uganda.” This has been and will continue to be done through occasional outreaches to different districts across the country that do not have access to an SLT and eventually the establishment of monthly regional camps.

Mityana Outreach

SLTFUG has had quite a number of such outreaches, two of which were held upcountry in Mityana and Masaka districts. The first outreach up country was held at the Mityana Community Development Centre in Mityana district on the 16^th of November 2019. This outreach was supported by the Mityana Community Development Foundation through Ms. Catherine Taylor, the organization’s director in conjunction with Ms. Catherine Nakawunde, SLTFUG’s Team Leader. The community was mobilized by a radio advert that was run on the morning of the outreach (the advert was meant to run for the whole week leading up to the date of the outreach however that did not happen due to physical constraints). Due to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the mobilization, a total of ten clients accompanied by their caretakers came for the outreach. Each of these clients received free assessment and clinical advice as well as training for the caretakers in order to help them manage the conditions at home. The case load included; Down Syndrome, Learning Disability, Cerebral palsy, Dysphagia and Dysfluency. This outreach was self-sponsored.

The Masaka Outreach

The second outreach was held at facility of Okoa Refuge in Nyendo, Masaka on the 29^th of February 2020. Okoa Refuge is a non-profit organization that takes care of orphans some of whom live in the boarding section of the facility and others within the community. Through the Sponsorship Program Coordinator of Okoa refuge, Ms. Kelsey Linduff, SLTFUG organized a one day outreach at the organization facility at a subsidized fee. Our team of professionals evaluated twenty children, some of whom lived in the home and others in the neighboring community. The children presented with different communication difficulties namely; Dysfluency, Speech and language difficulties secondary to Cerebral Palsy, Learning difficulties, to mention but a few. Each child received a thorough assessment and the caretakers of the children were equipped with therapy techniques to facilitate the continuation of therapy in the absence of the SLT. SLTFUG in collaboration with Okoa Refuge plan to have more of these outreaches in the near future. This outreach was coordinated by Ms. Kubita Joy, the Treasurer of SLTFUG.

SLTFUG aims at having more of the above outreaches all over Uganda. In order to support this cause visit the ‘How to Donate’ section.