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Speech-language therapy consultation practices in multilingual and multicultural health care contexts

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities; University of the Witwatersrand.
June 2016 / This study explored the experiences of and interactions between speech-language therapists and interpreters in cross-linguistic mediated consultations with caregivers of children with severe disabilities within a health care setting. The objectives of the study included: to analyse the interactional characteristics and features of speech-language therapists and interpreters; and to identify speech therapists’ and interpreters’ perceptions of their competence and experiences in multicultural settings.
Patients who do not speak the same language as the health care professionals receive limited health services when compared with people who speak the same language as the professionals who serve them, which may result in poor health outcomes.
The research was conducted from an interpretive approach, which includes a respect for intra- personal values, beliefs and interests in the topic. The design included multiple data collection methods and analysis. The data was collected from consultation experience of thirteen caregivers of children with communication disabilities, five SLTs and one interpreter in two urban hospitals in Gauteng.
The participants were recruited using purposive sampling procedures from two urban tertiary hospitals in Gauteng. And group Research instruments used were video recordings, individual interviews.
The objectives were investigated through a qualitative study using ethnographic observations; video recordings of the interactions between speech therapists and an interpreter during interviews with caregivers of children with disabilities; audio recordings; and individual interviews with speech-language therapists and interpreters post-consultation. The data collected were analysed using thematic content analysis and conversational analysis.
The findings highlighted the diversity challenges faced by SLTs working in multilingual and multicultural hospital settings. Language and translation issues had a marked impact on information received by caregivers. Despite the challenges that clinicians experienced in multilingual settings, they seemed to find that their working experience was an important leveller when they had an interpreter present during their consultations. The findings inform academic curricula and the clinical practice of speech-language and audiology students and professionals and will help improve application to transform the way in which they apply
theoretical knowledge when treating speech and hearing disorders in a multilingual and multicultural context; thus enhancing the efficacy of management of communication disorders within this context. / MT 2018

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/23832
Date January 2017
CreatorsMophosho, Munyane Elizabeth Bridged
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis
FormatOnline resource (239 leaves), application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf

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