Working Life: I stop for a dip in the sea on my way home
Fiona Craven, senior adult speech and language therapist, HSE, North Wicklow.
7.30am
I’m more an evening person than an early riser, so the morning sees me potter at home before getting in the car. I’d love to be able to bike to work, but given that I carry out home visits most days, I need the car.
I spend the first part of the morning catching up on emails and phone calls related to client care. I link daily with other service providers to ensure a cohesive service for the client and reduce stress for them or their family. Today I’m following up on a client admitted to hospital yesterday. I talk to my speech and language therapy colleagues in the hospital to ensure they have the background information needed to support the client’s eating, drinking and swallowing ability while in hospital.
At clinic, I work with a client with newly diagnosed Parkinson’s disease helping him learn to project his voice effectively so that he can continue to communicate clearly with family and neighbours.
Next in is a client who experienced a stroke last year. We’re working together to rehabilitate his language skills and I’m training his wife with ways she can adapt her communication style to support his understanding in conversations.
I pop out for a walk and enjoy a quick chat with the lovely staff in the local bakery.
As a newly established service, there’s still lots of work to do around developing policies and shaping clinical governance. As part of this work, I’m working with my colleague on developing a policy to support clients’ access to Alternative and Augmentative Communication Aids (AAC).
I’m on home visits for the afternoon. Some clients with motor neuron disease aren’t able to travel, so I see them at home. One of my visits today involves training a client and her husband on a new AAC device that uses her head to control the mouse and communicate using a screen. It can be challenging to learn a new way of communicating but we have a laugh as she types out some jokes on her new device.
I love sea swimming so I stop for a dip on my way home before taking part in a committee meeting with health and social care professionals interested in global health and social inclusion issues.
