Abigail Raines ENC 1102 Literature Review Professor Wolcott April 5th 2013 An Overview of Research of Speech Therapy

This literature review attempts to show the effectiveness, the demographics and the importance of speech therapy while analyzing the major questions or who, what where and why of the therapy. This is intended to only give an overview of the importance of therapy as well as a brief look into who receives the therapy. It attempts to show the conversation of why therapy is important in mainly two age groups, children and the elderly. Most of these articles are written in the UK (where the research was taken place). The UK seems to be ahead in the studying of the importance and effectiveness in speech therapy but despite the country, the therapy and administering of the therapy is the same as it would be in the United States. The demographics and statistics of the who receives therapy is obviously different from which would be in the United States, but age statics are applicable to research in America.

Referrals for speech therapy in the elderly are low despite the fact that is heightens the quality of life for those individuals. While it is shown that speech therapy is very effective in fixing and correcting speech impediments, referral rates are important to look at as well. It is shown in a study that children receive the most referrals for speech therapy (Priester 2009). But more importantly is the

analysis of referrals to speech therapy in the elderly. A studied was conducted looking at the referral rate to speech therapists in the elderly and it was concluded that referral rates are very low in the elderly. It was concluded that the low referral rate was due to the concern that it was not going to be useful and or the therapy and techniques learned in the sessions would not be remembered by the clients (Lyndsey 2009). An additional study conducted in 2010 showed that despite the worry of the patients not remembering or not adapting to the therapy, it heightens their quality of life (Louise 2010). Quality of life is very important in the elderly and the ability to verbally communicate is a big component that factors into quality of life in elderly patients. Speech therapy is most effective in children. In the field of speech therapy most referrals are given to children (Priester 2009). These referrals are given to heighten the chances of correcting speech impediments early on in life. Most referrals are given to children under the age of five (Petheram 2001). This is to due to their stage in life. They are still able to fix and change their habits that have formed rather than an adult who has had a habit for their whole life which is a lot longer time period than a child. The therapy also boosts the childrens self-esteem and gives them another outlet and role model in their life (Fourie). Children who go through speech therapy also have shown to have a heightened quality of life and better social skills (Markham 2006). It was shown that the children interact better with other children and have a better understanding and more acceptances for children with other disabilities. It is important to detect the need for speech therapy early because of all the additional benefits of the therapy. Face-to-face instruction with a therapist is the most important component in therapy sessions.

When it comes to therapy sessions in the speech therapy field, time is of the essence. The amount of time spent with the therapist is very important to consider. A study showed that 2 sessions per week of 21-30 minutes gives significant improvements to speech problems (Mullen 2010). Studies have shown that even less therapy such as six hours over a six month period of time can show improvements in patients (Broomfield 2010). But, the key to these numbers is face-to-face instruction. A study showed that therapists spend more time instructing parents of patients on what to do outside of therapy or doing paper work rather than being in actual face-toface instruction time (Pring 2012). Therapists say that they would rather be in direct instruction time with their patients because it provides the best results (Pring 2012). Time and actual face-toface instruction is very important when considering and going through speech therapy. Research Gap All of these studies mentioned above create a pretty complete overview of my research question, the who, what, where and why of speech therapy. However, all of these studies above were conducted in the UK. Through my research I was not able to find any studies on the broad statistics and effects of speech therapy in the United States. Being able to look at numbers, referral rates, and effectiveness of therapy is very important and useful for other therapist and colleagues in the field, but for therapists in America, the statistics of therapy in the UK does not pertain to them because it is a completely different country. I dont know why research and studies like the ones above have not been conducted in the United States but through my research, I have found many therapists who express the want for more research studies and articles to be conducted in America. This seems to be a huge research gap in the field of speech therapy.

Works Cited Broomfield, Jan, and Barbara Dodd. "Is Speech And Language Therapy Effective For Children With Primary Speech And Language Impairment? Report Of A Randomized Control Trial." International Journal Of Language & Communication Disorders 46.6 (2011 Fourie, Robert, NIamb Crowley, and Ana Oliviera. "A Qualitative Exploration of Therapeutic Relationships from the Perspective of Six Children Receiving Speech-Language Therapy." 628-6 Lyndsey Nickels, et al. "Speech Pathology Services For Primary Progressive Aphasia: Exploring An Emerging Area Of Practice." Aphasiology 23.2 (2009): 161-174. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 201340. Academic Search Premier Priester, G.H., W.J. Post, and S.M. Goorhuis-Brouwer. "Problems In Speech Sound Production In Young Children. An Inventory Study Of The Opinions Of Speech Therapists." International Journal Of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 73.8 (2009): 1100-1104. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2013 Pring, T., Flood, E., Dodd, B. and Joffe, V. (2012), The working practices and clinical experiences of paediatric speech and language therapists: a national UK survey.

International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 47: 696708. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-6984.2012.00177.

Project Proposal From my research, I have found a lack of surveys and statistics gathered in the United States about speech therapy. Information about who receives therapy (primarily age), how they benefit from the therapy, and referral rates all need to be studied in the United States to benefit therapists and researchers in the United States. To fix this gap, a myriad of surveys need to be formed and sent out evenly to therapists and patients throughout the United States. These surveys need to cover topics such as amount of time spent in therapy sessions, average age of patients, what patients get out of their therapy sessions and how they value their sessions. These surveys can be modeled after the surveys that are conducted in the UK (where most of these studies have occurred). I have noticed many times in the UK that surveys were conducted through Survey Monkey, which is probably the most accessible and easiest form of survey. The most important part of these surveys is the distribution of them. The surveys need to be distributed in all areas, rural, and urban in the United States. With even distribution, the results will be more effective and patterns will be more easily detected. Also, with even distribution, the information becomes valuable for all therapists in the United States rather than an isolated few therapists. This is important because of the lack of surveys conducted in the United States, this information is greatly needed. After all surveys have been completed, the information needs to be compiled and published in a way that is accessible to other therapists and researchers to be able to use and apply to their everyday practice. With these results presented and analyzed, the obvious gap of

lack of research in America will be filled in the speech therapy field and therapists in America will be able to use the information to improve their techniques, referrals, and practice.