5 minute read
The call to collaborate
How a dental hygienist found an unexpected business opportunity with a speech pathologist friend
By Karen Smart and Jenni-Lee Rees
HAVE YOU ASKED yourself which profession outside the dental team you could work with to provide better outcomes for your clients?
When I met my speech colleague in 2014, I never imagined that our professional worlds would collide the way they have. Back then, we were two health professionals working in regional Queensland who both shared an interest in orofacial myology. At the time of meeting this was the proposed area of collaboration. I knew that orofacial myology was not accepted as a practice area of dentistry; nor was it hugely recognised as an area of practice by Speech Pathology Australia at the time. However, we were aware that orofacial myology was an area of growing interest in Australia, and was already well-established in the United States and Brazil. As we had both completed orofacial myology training courses, we could see the sense in joining forces.
We worked together to establish a speech student-led orofacial myology clinic at our tertiary institution. My role was an oral myologist in this particular clinic. Together we provided services to clients – assessing, identifying and managing orofacial disorders. It was through collaborative practice that we established a shared goal for our clients, mutual respect and educated one another on each other’s roles as a speech pathologist and oral health therapist. This experience led us to the realisation that we were in essence, two health professionals looking in the mouths of clients with both having expertise in the stomatognathic system, yet seeing things through a completely different set of lenses.
I had limited knowledge of a speech pathologist’s scope of practice and the various members of the dental team were not understood by my speech colleague. As the orofacial clinic grew, so did our partnership. We established commonalities, barriers and opportunities where oral health and speech professionals could collaborate.
The most amazing elements that developed in this partnership were the friendship, support and trust we established which really helped with problem solving. We found we were very good at bouncing ideas off each other and we were able to use each other’s clinical and personal strengths to mutual advantage and for client benefit. As a dental practitioner I was focused on the function of the dentition in the masticatory process and I found my knowledge complimented that of my speech colleague who focussed a lot on tongue movement and lip seal during swallowing.
The partnership with my speech colleague has educated me on the vast range of practice that is Speech Pathology. They assess, manage and treat people experiencing difficulty in speaking (which includes both how the voice mechanism works as well as articulation), listening, processing and expressing language, reading, writing, stuttering, social skills, and swallowing.
They even have knowledge of breathing because it’s important for talking and swallowing safely. I didn’t realise how much anatomy and neuroanatomy knowledge is required to understand and treat these areas.
Most speech pathologists are working in particular areas and will have different skill sets so this needs to be taken into consideration by any dental practitioner looking for speech pathology input. There are 9,000 speech pathologists out there so you should be able to find one who fits your needs and is open to sharing your vision.
As our partnership progressed, we expanded the relationship with input into each other’s tertiary courses. I co-supervised Speech Pathology Honours students on projects such as improving the knowledge of oral health and swallowing in aged care and investigating the perceptions of regional dental practitioners and speech pathologists in inter-professional practice. My colleague lectures the oral health students on the swallowing mechanism from a speech pathology perspective and gives them some insight into treatment and management, whether that be in the form of compensatory techniques or rehabilitative approaches. She gives an aged care focus to look at recommended positioning for people with dysphagia or swallowing difficulties.
Our collaborative partnership has become bigger than originally envisaged. We now have a closer relationship between university departments as other teaching staff in both professions better understand the mutual professional commonalities. Every couple of years we hold an informative collaborative event for oral health and speech pathology students and staff. Activities have included guest speakers who have survived oral cancer so students can hear about the person’s experience and discuss the professionspecific approach to care, as well as considering how client-centred care can be implemented. We have had students from each discipline demonstrate oral and oromotor examinations specific to their discipline. These events allow participants to socialise, compare clinical techniques and knowledge, and educate each other about their professional roles. These are components which form the basis for professional respect and which we hope will encourages them as graduates to work in a less siloed or profession-centric fashion for maximum satisfaction for all concerned.
There are still professions and professionals who are not willing to engage collaboratively which is saddening news. Little do they know how much they are missing out. Yes, it does take time. Both parties need to feel that they have equal status and a common goal to work towards; and having the occasional informal interaction helps bond the partnership. There is a certain amount of shifting of ideals, culture and beliefs but the rewards are worth it, and of course, the client benefits which any professional worth their salt should be aiming for. There is plenty of room for collaboration in cancer care and the aged care sector. Speech pathology is well established in aged care, an ideal platform for both professions to team up to develop and ensure implementation of oral health care plans; so necessary in the prevention of aspiration pneumonia. Working with a speech pathologist can make a difference in many ways, from getting tips on managing behaviour during treatment through more effective communication means, to understanding swallowing or speech and language developmental milestones better so you can recognise when to discuss cases, refer on, problem solve or suggest a joint session for a client.
The fact that the two professions do look through a different lens is great but when you look through both right and left lenses at the same time, don’t you see so much better? n
Karen Smart is a lecturer in Advanced Clinical Practice (Oral Health) at CQUniversity. Email k.smart@cqu.edu.au
Jenni-Lee Rees is a senior lecturer in Speech Pathology at CQUniversity. Email j.rees2@cqu.edu.au
