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Conference on Communication Disabilities in East Africa:

Collaborative Service Development

12^th-13^th July 2018

This 2 day conference is being hosted by Yellow House Health and Outreach Services, in Collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Toronto.

 

Yellow House has been providing speech and language therapy services in Kenya for nearly 10 years. Our services are based on a community model of social inclusion with a focus on collaborative practices. This includes the collaboration of patients, carers, Community Chiefs, health and education professionals as a necessity to do the work we do.

 

We believe it is crucial for people to have a platform to share their knowledge. We invite you to share your stories of providing or receiving speech language therapy, education and/or disability services through collaboration, including the challenges and successes of your practice.

 

Our conference aims to provide professionals, patients and carers with an opportunity to develop new skills, consider varied methods of service delivery and network with like-minded individuals.

 

Please send us your 150 word abstracts to present at the conference. The presentations will be informal, facilitate discussion and enable time for problem solving.

We are also accepting Poster submissions – please contact us for more information.

 

Possible themes:

1. Interdisciplinary practice – Collaboration across the professions
2. Empowering people with disabilities – Collaborating with families and clients
3. Collaborative community partnerships to strengthen services
4. Global Collaboration – learning across cultural contexts
5. Collaboration to create change – partnering with government at district and national levels.

 

It is a challenge for Speech and Language Therapists and other allied health and education professionals to access Clinical Professional Development (CPD) in East Africa. If you are interested in providing a 1 hour CPD workshop on your area of expertise/a strategy or intervention you have experience in, then please send a brief overview.

 

Important Dates:

 

Abstract and Poster Submissions Deadline: Friday 4^th May 2018

Early Bird Fee Registration: 1^st May 2018

Final Registration Deadline: 30^th June 2018

 

Please send all submissions and enquiries to conference@yellowhouseoutreach.org

 

 

 

Members of CTI and our sister organisations OT Frontiers and ADAPT are running a joint study day on 10th March in Birmingham. This is a great opportunity for either students or qualified SLTs (as well as OTs and Physios) thinking of working abroad in the near future.

Here’s a link to book tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/so-youre-thinking-of-working-abroad-tickets-41152292615   

 

Communication is a fundamental human need. We use it to socialise, learn and earn a living. For those who cannot communicate easily, the risk of abuse, neglect and social exclusion is extremely high, particularly in countries where communication disability is misunderstood and stigmatised. There is now an emerging recognition, that people with communication disabilities, particularly children, are excluded from health, education and social services, as there is limited knowledge and skills amongst service providers on how to both identify and support them.

It is widely accepted that the groups that are most vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) are a) women and girls; b) refugees; c) people with disabilities. The conclusion that those with communication disabilities are at high risk of SGBV – even targeted by perpetrators – with few opportunities to report or access medical, legal or psychological support, reflects findings from a project, conducted  by the literature review’s authors, Helen Barrett & Dr.Julie Marshall, in Rwanda, in conjunction with UNHCR in 2016. 

Click here for more details about the review

 A second-phase project looking at how to improve support for refugee-survivors of SGBV who have a communication disability is planned for 2017 –follow us on Facebook (Communicability Global) and Twitter (@communiglobal and @jemarshall13) to keep up to date with our progress.

 

Ghana is famous for being the warm and welcoming heart of West Africa…

We would very much like to welcome SLPs with experience in clinical supervision (particularly in international and cross-cultural contexts) to help us with clinical training of SLPs.

The University of Ghana is part way into its first ever training of speech and language therapists (speech-language pathologists). We are seeking three experienced speech and language therapists with skills in clinical supervision of students in paediatric settings who may be willing to volunteer their time to assist with clinical education.

It is hoped that the volunteers would be available for three weeks, from 26th June 2017.

Limited financial support is available to assist with living expenses in country. We are unable to offer to pay for air travel at this point.

For further information, please refer to the attached advert.