We provide speech therapy online for children, adolescents and adults with dementia.
We are a registered NDIS provider and use an inclusive approach to therapy, where the person can be in the comfort and familiarity of their own home.
How can speech therapy benefit people with dementia?
Speech therapy can offer numerous benefits for individuals with dementia, helping to address various communication and cognitive challenges associated with the condition. Here are some key ways in which speech therapy can be beneficial:
1. **Enhanced Communication Skills**: Speech therapists can work with individuals to improve their verbal and non-verbal communication skills. This can include techniques to enhance speech clarity, encourage effective use of language, and foster other forms of communication like gestures or facial expressions.
2. **Cognitive-Communication Strategies**: Therapists provide strategies to help manage cognitive difficulties associated with dementia. This may involve memory aids, organizational techniques, or visual prompts that support effective communication.
3. **Social Interaction Support**: Speech therapy can help individuals with dementia engage more meaningfully in social interactions. By improving communication skills, individuals may feel more confident and less isolated, which can help combat feelings of depression and anxiety.
4. **Swallowing and Eating Safety**: For some individuals with dementia, swallowing may become a challenge. Speech therapists can assess swallowing function and provide strategies to ensure safe eating practices, which is essential for maintaining nutrition and hydration.
5. **Maintaining Identity**: Engaging in meaningful conversation and communication can help individuals with dementia maintain aspects of their identity and self-expression, fostering a sense of connection to themselves and their loved ones.
6. **Family Education and Support**: Speech therapists often work with family members to educate them about communication strategies and how to best support their loved ones. This can enhance family interactions and improve the overall support system for the person with dementia.
7. **Individualized Intervention**: Speech therapy is tailored to meet each individual’s needs and abilities, ensuring that the interventions are relevant and effective. This personalized approach can lead to more meaningful progress.
8. **Delayed Progression of Symptoms**: While speech therapy cannot reverse dementia, it may help delay the progression of communication challenges and enhance the quality of life for individuals with dementia.
Overall, speech therapy plays a vital role in helping individuals with dementia and their families navigate the complexities of communication and maintain meaningful connections as the disease progresses.
Services for children, adolescents and adults
We have speech therapists who work with children, adolescents and adults, and we have therapists who have experience with dementia. Read more about our therapists here.
NDIS registered provider
We are a registered NDIS provider and work with self-managed, plan-managed and agency-managed clients.
If your are an NDIS provider or support coordinator we can provide reliable speech therapy for clients with dementia in any location. Refer a client and we’ll connect you to the right clinician.
Is online speech therapy effective?
Yes! A growing body of evidence shows that online delivery of therapy can be as effective as face to face. Online therapy has many other benefits too, including being convenient and accessible for people in regional and rural areas.
How does online speech therapy work?
At Umbo online therapy is not just zoom plus business-as-usual. It’s much more diverse than simply videoconferencing. Umbo therapists provide an individualised approach to each person, using the latest evidence, and a variety of technologies and engagement techniques.
Umbo champions person-centred therapy. It means the person and their family/support people leads the conversation. We believe that the most effective therapy occurs when support is given in the environment where the person lives, learns, works or plays. Therefore we work with the family, and teach skills to you or to other supporters. This means you’re achieving real-life goals, rather than just achieving goals in a clinic.
We are a certified social enterprise helping Australian families access allied health services.