The STARs team have been awarded a grant by Health Education England to expand student speech and language therapist placements in care homes.
Care home residents can experience social isolation and reduced communication opportunities due to physiological, neurological, and/or emotional needs, as well as situational factors. Care home staff report lacking training and time to address these needs, and speech and language therapists (SLTs) are rarely commissioned to work in these settings (when they are it is usually for swallowing needs).
SLT students are well-placed to address gaps in provision by improving opportunities for social communication. Placements students can help reduce isolation, and improve residents’ improve mood, confidence and wellbeing, whether they live with or without dementia.
