Afternoon Colloquium: Wednesday, 4 October 2023

We are thrilled to have Chelsea Larkman (MSPA-CPSP) as our first presenter for the School’s 2023/24 colloquium series!

TITLE:
Interpreters’ experiences of collaborating with speech pathologists to deliver aphasia therapy to culturally and linguistically diverse populations.

BACKGROUND:
International migration and global aging are resulting in growing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse people with aphasia worldwide. There is an increasing requirement for speech pathologists to collaborate with professional interpreters to meet the needs of their diverse caseloads. However, little has been heard directly from interpreters.

AIMS:
To understand interpreters’ experiences of working with speech pathologists to provide aphasia therapy.

METHODS:
Eight professional interpreters from healthcare settings in Australia participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants varied in terms of their language backgrounds, country of birth, interpreter certification, years of experience, and occasions of working with speech pathologists and people with aphasia. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilised to examine the data.

RESULTS:
Analysis of participants’ transcripts identified themes related to the unique complexities of interpreting for aphasia; the nuances of cultural and linguistic diversity; training and preparation; communication, collaboration, teamwork, and respect; the necessity of pre- and post-briefing; adapting aphasia therapy; the need for extra time; navigating family involvement; and the use of telehealth.

CONCLUSIONS:
These findings provide new insight into the challenges that interpreters face when they work with speech pathologists to adapt and provide therapy to people with aphasia. Additionally, they highlight the need for increased training for interpreters and speech pathologists on how best to collaborate in this field and the increased time needed for speech pathologists to appropriately provide aphasia therapy to culturally and linguistically diverse people with aphasia.

BIO:
Chelsea Larkman (MSPA-CPSP) is a senior speech pathologist and graduate researcher. She completed her bachelor’s degree in speech pathology with honours at the University of Queensland in 2006 and has worked for sixteen years as a speech pathologist in hospital, community, and school settings.

Chelsea is currently a graduate researcher within the Centre of Research Excellence in Aphasia Recovery and Rehabilitation at La Trobe University (Australia) under the supervision of Professor Miranda Rose and Dr. Lucette Lanyon. Her research focuses on cultural and linguistic adaptation of aphasia therapies and how speech pathologists provide therapy to people with aphasia when they do not share a language.