"Time is a Big Factor": Aged-Care Workforce Perspectives on Communication Partner Training for Working With Residents With Dementia.

Many individuals who reside in permanent residential aged care (RAC) have a diagnosis of dementia, with the majority experiencing a communication disorder. Existing literature has placed an emphasis on the need for staff to undertake communication partner training. This study aimed to investigate the preferences of RAC staff, and their perceived barriers and facilitators to workplace training. Through an exploratory cross-sectional online survey, a sample of RAC workers in Australia were recruited (n = 104). Descriptive statistics revealed that the majority of participants preferred training to be delivered face to face and being paid for participation. Through content analysis of open-ended questions, seven categories were identified regarding perceived barriers and facilitators for communication partner training in the workplace. These included staff shortages, time pressures, remuneration and training delivery method, and quality of the educators. Additionally, management attitudes were pertinent. These findings may inform the development and outcomes of future communication partner training in RAC.

Opportunities for fundamental physics research with radioactive molecules.

Molecules containing short-lived, radioactive nuclei are uniquely positioned to enable a wide range of scientific discoveries in the areas of fundamental symmetries, astrophysics, nuclear structure, and chemistry. Recent advances in the ability to create, cool, and control complex molecules down to the quantum level, along with recent and upcoming advances in radioactive species production at several facilities around the world, create a compelling opportunity to coordinate and combine these efforts to bring precision measurement and control to molecules containing extreme nuclei. In this manuscript, we review the scientific case for studying radioactive molecules, discuss recent atomic, molecular, nuclear, astrophysical, and chemical advances which provide the foundation for their study, describe the facilities where these species are and will be produced, and provide an outlook for the future of this nascent field.

Home language variation in the narratives of urban First Nations Australian children in their first year of school.

First Nations children may speak a dialect of English that has different grammatical rules from Standard Australian English (school language). Limited studies have investigated Aboriginal English (home language) dialect in First Nations children and its impact on differential diagnosis of language disorder. This study measured the density of home language dialect and grammatical accuracy in oral narratives produced by typically developing First Nations children. Non-standardised assessment narrative protocols were used to elicit language samples from 27 Australian First Nations children aged 4.5-6 years. Local home language dialectal features were coded into the sample and grammatical accuracy was calculated separately for school language and home language. All children displayed some use of home language features. The most common home language features used were alternative use of regular past tense and irregular past tense, zero use of regular and irregular past tense, and alternative use of pronouns. Dialect density varied highly amongst participants. Grammatical accuracy was higher for home language than school language. Speech pathologists and teachers need to be aware of differences between home and school language for First Nations children to avoid misdiagnosis of language disorder. More research is required to gain normative data that informs culturally appropriate assessment practices for this population.

Narrative comprehension skills of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children in their first year of school.

Purpose: The suitability of existing speech-language pathology assessments for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) children is questioned in the literature. There is emerging evidence that the differences reported between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children on standardised assessment are diminished on more naturalistic assessments such as narrative production (macrostructure and microstructure). Little is documented, however, about the narrative comprehension skills of Australian children. This study explores the narrative comprehension skills of 40 typically developing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children in their first year of school.Method: A cross-sectional comparative research design was used. Three non-standardised narrative assessments incorporating comprehension-production protocols were administered. Question responses were scored for accuracy and categorised according to story grammar targeted and inference (literal vs. non-literal). In addition, all participants completed the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test fourth edition (PPVT-4).Result: A repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare response accuracy to comprehension questions between cultural groups and across narrative protocols. While there was a significant difference in PPVT-4 scores, no significant differences were identified between response accuracy for the Indigenous and non-Indigenous children. Furthermore, response accuracy to comprehension questions was correlated with PPVT-4 scores for the non-Indigenous children only.Conclusion: Findings support the use of naturalistic assessment strategies such as narrative comprehension with Indigenous Australian children.

Story-telling abilities of young Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children across three protocols.

Purpose: Little is documented about the story-telling skills of Indigenous Australian children. Therefore, this study explores the complexity of stories produced by Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children in their first year of school.Method: An observational design allowed comparison across cultural groups and story protocols. Three stories were elicited from 49 Indigenous and non-Indigenous children aged 4;10 to 6;5. Stories were analysed using the Index of Narrative Complexity (INC) to generate scores for each story element. Story elements were further categorised and evaluated for level of use across participants. Story protocol and cultural group effects were explored using ANOVA.Result: Participant stories featured high use of characters, initiating events, attempts, and consequences; and little use of internal plans, formulaic markers, causal adverbial markers and evaluations. Story complexity scores did not differ between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, but significant differences were evident among the three, story protocols.Conclusion: Findings suggest that story elicitation protocols and analysis methods used in this study may be appropriate for use with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children from urban contexts. However, caution is needed when making diagnostic decisions based on story complexity without well-developed, culturally appropriate protocols and normative data.

Language abilities of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children from low socioeconomic backgrounds in their first year of school.

PURPOSE: Concern exists about the cross-cultural appropriateness of existing language assessments for non-mainstream populations, including Indigenous children who may speak a non-standard dialect of the mainstream language. This study therefore aims to investigate the language skills of Indigenous Australian children in comparison with non-Indigenous children, with a view to exploring the cultural appropriateness of language sampling assessment methods. METHOD: The performance of 51 typically developing Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian children was compared on a standardised assessment and a spoken narrative protocol using language sample analysis measures. All children were in their first year of school and from the same regional city. RESULT: While the Indigenous children attained significantly lower receptive vocabulary scores than the non-Indigenous children, most language sampling measures from the spoken narrative protocol were similar across the two groups of children. CONCLUSION: Flexible, naturalistic language sampling approaches using a spoken narrative protocol are thus recommended for Indigenous children from the under-researched Australian context. However, normative data for language sampling are lacking, and further research is needed to explore the cultural validity of assessment and diagnostic procedures for Indigenous Australian children, as well as the influence of socioeconomic and family factors on language skills.

Voice Outcome Measures for Adult Patients With Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) typically results in marked changes in voice quality and performance and has a significant impact on quality of life. Treatment approaches generally aim to restore glottal closure for phonation and improve vocal function. There are a wide range of voice outcome measures that are available to measure the treatment effect. Careful selection of voice outcome measures is required to ensure that they are adequate for purpose and are psychometrically sound to detect the treatment effect. This article aims to critically evaluate the literature for voice outcome measures that are used for patients with UVFP. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. METHODS: Nine databases were searched for UVFP treatment studies published since 2003 (n = 2,484 articles). These articles and their references were screened using inclusion/exclusion criteria, including population characteristics, treatment, voice outcomes, and study findings. Data from the included articles was extracted and appraised with respect to multidimensionality, timing, selection rationale, validity, reliability, and responsiveness to change of the voice outcome measures. RESULTS: A total of 29 studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. These studies showed considerable variability in the rationale, selection, and application of voice outcome measures for reporting the treatment effect for patients with UVFP. CONCLUSION: There is currently a significant disparity in the selection and use of voice outcome measures for patients with UVFP. A set of principles around selection rationale, validity, reliability, and responsiveness to change is proposed to enhance the judicious selection of voice outcome measures for this patient group. Laryngoscope, 129:187-197, 2019.

Comparing Feedback Types in Multimedia Learning of Speech by Young Children With Common Speech Sound Disorders: Research Protocol for a Pretest Posttest Independent Measures Control Trial.

Children with speech sound disorders benefit from feedback about the accuracy of sounds they make. Home practice can reinforce feedback received from speech pathologists. Games in mobile device applications could encourage home practice, but those currently available are of limited value because they are unlikely to elaborate "Correct"/"Incorrect" feedback with information that can assist in improving the accuracy of the sound. This protocol proposes a "Wizard of Oz" experiment that aims to provide evidence for the provision of effective multimedia feedback for speech sound development. Children with two common speech sound disorders will play a game on a mobile device and make speech sounds when prompted by the game. A human "Wizard" will provide feedback on the accuracy of the sound but the children will perceive the feedback as coming from the game. Groups of 30 young children will be randomly allocated to one of five conditions: four types of feedback and a control which does not play the game. The results of this experiment will inform not only speech sound therapy, but also other types of language learning, both in general, and in multimedia applications. This experiment is a cost-effective precursor to the development of a mobile application that employs pedagogically and clinically sound processes for speech development in young children.

Perspectives on voice treatment for unilateral vocal fold paralysis.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) is a common cause of neurogenic dysphonia resulting in glottal insufficiency. To restore glottal sufficiency and reduce the presenting dysphonia, treatment involving either surgical intervention, voice therapy or a combination of the two is typically provided. Currently, there is no consensus for the most effective voice treatment for UVFP. This results in an inability to compare current studies, and a lack of treatment effectiveness for the management of UVFP. This study aims to review the most recent literature for the management of dysphonia due to UVFP to establish the current evidence base for voice treatment options. RECENT FINDINGS: There was found to be a lack of consistency in the rationale, selection and timing of the surgical intervention and/or voice therapy being provided for patients with UVFP. SUMMARY: Further consensus is required for the rationale and selection of voice treatment prescriptions for the management of UVFP in order to improve treatment effectiveness and voice outcomes in patients with UVFP.

Semantic Feature Disturbance in Alzheimer Disease: Evidence from an Object Decision Task.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: It is widely held that semantic disturbance in Alzheimer disease (AD) involves the loss of distinctive features but the relative sparing of nondistinctive features. Many previous studies of semantic feature disturbance have used cognitively challenging tasks with verbal stimuli that allow for potential cognitive confounds. Our objective was to use a task with lower memory demands to investigate distinctive feature disturbance in AD. METHODS: We used an object decision task to compare the processing of distinctive and nondistinctive semantic features in people with AD and age-matched controls. The task included six conditions based on the relationship between each prime and target object. We tested the processing of distinctive and nondistinctive features by selectively altering distinctive and nondistinctive semantic features between prime and target pairs. RESULTS: Performance accuracy was significantly lower for participants with AD than for age-matched controls when distinctive features were manipulated, but no difference was found when nondistinctive features were manipulated. CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide evidence of semantic content disturbance in AD in the context of a task with low cognitive demands.

Semantic Feature Training for the Treatment of Anomia in Alzheimer Disease: A Preliminary Investigation.

OBJECTIVE: This is a preliminary investigation into the effectiveness of semantic feature training for the treatment of anomia in Alzheimer disease (AD). BACKGROUND: Anomia is a common clinical characteristic of AD. It is widely held that anomia in AD is caused by the combination of cognitive deficits and progressive loss of semantic feature information. Therapy that aims to help participants relearn or retain semantic features should, therefore, help treat anomia in AD. METHODS: Two men with AD and one man with progressive nonfluent aphasia received 10 treatment sessions focused on relearning the names of 20 animals and 20 fruits. Within each category, half of the items were of high and half were of low typicality. We individualized treatment items to each participant, using items that each had not named correctly at baseline. Treatment sessions consisted of naming, category sorting, and semantic feature verification tasks. RESULTS: Both participants with AD showed post-treatment improvements in naming, and one maintained the treatment effects at 6-week follow-up. The semantic category of the treatment items influenced post-treatment outcomes, but typicality did not. In contrast to the participants with AD, the man with progressive nonfluent aphasia had no improvement in naming ability. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest the potential viability of semantic feature training to treat anomia in AD and, therefore, the need for further research.

Alzheimer's disease is associated with distinctive semantic feature loss.

A central topic of discussion in the exploration of semantic disturbance in Alzheimer's disease (AD) concerns the relative contribution of semantic content (e.g., semantic features) and semantic process. Studies have suggested that semantic dysfunction in AD is the result of deficits to either semantic process, semantic content or both. Studies that have supported the loss of semantic content have been criticised for their use of verbal stimuli and cognitively challenging experimental tasks. The current study used a novel version of the yes-no recognition memory task to compare the processing of distinctive and non-distinctive features in participants with AD whilst controlling the cognitive demands of the task. The task involved five conditions which denoted the relationship between the items in the test and study phase. A 'non-distinctive' and a 'distinctive' condition were included where non-distinctive and distinctive semantic features were manipulated between study and test, respectively. Task accuracy of participants with AD decreased relative to control participants when distinctive features were manipulated between the study and test phase of the experiment. There was no significant difference between groups when non-distinctive features were manipulated. These findings provide evidence to support the loss of semantic content in AD.