Category: volunteering overseas

speech and language therapy overseas, volunteering overseas

Research Associate in communication disability

image002See below for information about a Research Associate post at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Grade and Salary Band: Grade 8 (33,943 to 39,324)

Full time

2 years, fixed term

Closing date: 06 January 2017

Reference: T1-80277897-02

We are seeking to appoint an outstanding postdoctoral researcher to work in the area of communication disability. This work will fall within the Faculty of Health, Psychology and Social Care.

The primary focus of this will be to enhance existing high-quality research in the area of Communication Disability.  As such, experience of writing bids for research funding is highly desirable.  The successful applicant  should also be able to demonstrate a developing track record of publication in high quality peer-reviewed journals. Expertise in, or a willingness to learn, how to develop pathways to impact for research, through public engagement activities, including the use of social media, is also desirable.

You will have a doctoral level qualification in a relevant area and evidence of continuous professional development. We particularly welcome applications from speech and language therapists and psychologists. You will have the ability to build relationships and establish networks with internal and external contacts.   You will be able to prepare funding proposals and applications to external bodies. Using your initiative, you will use your creativity and judgement to develop appropriate approaches to research and will be able to synthesise complex data from different sources and to communicate findings via written reports for a variety of audiences.

 For more information about this post, please contact: Julie marshall:j.e.marshall@mmu.ac.uk or Janice Murray: j.murray@mmu.ac.uk

For full information, please see the  careers at MMU webpage: http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/jobs/vacancies/

speech and language therapy overseas, volunteering overseas

PhD Scholarship in communication disability at Manchester Metropolitan University

PhD Scholarship at Manchester Metropolitan University, Research Centre for Health: Disability, Ageing and Wellbeing.

Cultural competence in the provision of services to people with communication disabilities and their families. An exploratory study of the views and experiences of people with communication disabilities.

Project Summary:

The UK’s increasingly diverse population requires culturally competent services, including from Speech and Language Therapists. This studentship aims to increase understanding about how culturally competent practice is viewed by people with communication disabilities (PWCD) and their families. This will be achieved through interviews and stories from PWCD and their families.

A number of challenges need to be addressed in order to improve services for PWCD and their families.

These include:

  1. agreement on the terminology used by professionals in relation to culture and cultural competence;
  2. how PWCD and their families define, view and experience culturally competent services;
  3. how SLTs define and view culture and culturally competent services;
  4. how SLTs are educated to, and practise, culturally competent care;
  5. the impact of culturally competent service provision on patient and clinician-reported outcomes.

To find out more about this opportunity, please visit (application deadline: 31 January 2017):

http://www2.mmu.ac.uk/research/research-study/scholarships/detail/1-vc-hpsc-jem-2017-1-cultural-competence.php

speech and language therapy overseas, volunteering overseas

Voluntary opportunity in Uganda

Hi all, an exciting opportunity has come up for a SLT volunteer in Uganda. See message below from Steve in Uganda:

Good afternoon,

My name is Steve Williams and I live in Uganda in East Africa and have done so for just over 10 years. My wife and I had a baby boy about 4 years ago but things didn’t go as smoothly as they could have done. He suffered quite heavily from convulsions for the first 4-14 months of his life and was subsequently diagnosed with epilepsy. After numerous trips to Kenya and the UK and a 9 month stay in the UK for my wife, things seem to have stabilized but, either through the fits themselves or the medication he has to take daily, his development has been quite slow.

At the moment he can walk but his speech is still quite limited. We have worked with various specialists and therapists who have advised and trained us on methods we can use to help improve things and have even built some developmental aids. In this part of the world it’s not easy to find speech/physio/developmental therapists but I thought it would be extremely beneficial to have someone around who has been professionally trained in this field and so about a year ago I partnered with a UK physiotherapist, Fiona Beckerlegge, who now lives here full time to see if we couldn’t improve his development.

It’s been a massive success and Fiona’s input into his life has been immense. Not only has she been able to help my own son but together we have founded an NGO called the ‘Kyaninga Child Development Centre’ (http://www.kyaningacdc.org/) and now offer comprehensive treatment to children living with disabilities across the whole district. Our team has recently grown with occupational therapist, Racheal, joining us a few months ago and bringing vital skills to the centre to further the development of the children who are already visiting us.

The next skill set we are looking to fulfil would be that of a speech therapist and this is why I am writing to you today. What I propose is to offer a 3-6 month placement, based in Fort Portal, Western Uganda, for a speech therapist on a voluntary basis where I would provide food and accommodation with the possibility to extend the placement after review. Furthermore, if we successfully manage to source funds during this time for this position then we would also be able to offer a salary. I also own a safari lodge and a small safari company and would be able to offer them a complimentary safari so that they also get a bit of an Africa experience while they’re here.

If you know of anyone in this field who would be interested I would be most grateful if you could let them know.

The name of the lodge is Kyaninga Lodge (www.kyaningalodge.com), and the town is called Fort Portal.

Best regards,

Steve Williams

Owner Kyaninga Lodge
Fort Portal
+256 772999750
www.kyaningalodge.com