For Patients and Visitors

Speech pathologists work with people who have communication and/or swallowing difficulties. 

People can have communicating and/ or swallowing difficulties for many different reasons. At St Vincent’s we work with people who have communicating or swallowing difficulties due to injury or illness such as stroke, cancer, Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Injuries and illness can cause different kinds of communication and swallowing problems.

Communication difficulties include difficulty with: 

• Hearing (deaf and hard of hearing)
• Voice (dysphonia)
• Speaking (dysarthria)
• Planning speech (verbal dyspraxia)
• Understanding and finding words (aphasia) 
• Understanding communication messages (right hemisphere communication difficulties)
• Thinking needed for communication (cognitive communicative difficulties)
• Reading (Dyslexia)
• Writing (Dysgraphia)

Swallowing difficulties can include difficulty with;

• Oral care
• Swallowing (dysphagia)
• Thinking needed for swallowing (cognitive feeding difficulties)

We work to optimise a person’s communication and swallowing abilities so that they are able to participate as fully as possible in their everyday life. We do this by: 

Comprehensive assessment of the communication or swallowing problem.
Assessment of swallowing problems may involve:

• Videofluoroscopy
• Fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation study (FEES)

Treatment to improve communication or swallowing ability
 

Education and training for others

Speech pathology services are provided at St Vincent’s Hospital, St George’s Health Service, Caritas Christi and across St Vincent's residential aged care facilities.

Contact

Locations

St Vincent's Hospital - Speech Pathology Department

Building F - Bolte Wing 

Ground Floor, 14 Nicholson St Fitzroy 3065

Ph: (03) 9231 3840

St George's Health Service - Speech Pathology Department

Level 1, 283 Cotham Rd Kew 3101

Ph: (03) 9231 8203