Allied health professions LifecurveTM survey: report on respondents with communication support needs

10. Conclusions

This report has been prepared to inform the Scottish Government Assisted Communications Policy Team, who are working to better understand the profile of people in Scotland with communication support needs. It provides a preliminary overview of responses to the AHP LifeCurve^TM Survey completed across Scotland in May 2017. In this report the focus has been on respondents who answered 'yes' or 'no' to the survey question: 'Do you have any communication support needs (e.g. hearing or low vision aid, interpreter, large print, easy read, communication aid)?', and the analysis has considered these groups as two separate sub-samples.

This report demonstrates that people with communication support needs across Scotland are accessing a range of AHP services and across a variety of settings. The profile of respondents with communication support needs in this sample is largely similar to the profile of those without, but there are some areas of divergence. The respondents with communication support needs had a relatively older profile than the respondents without, which probably reflects the age-related nature of some communication support needs, for example age-related changes to vision and hearing. Respondents over the age of 65 were also more likely to be seeing speech and language therapists, which indicated they are receiving support for their communication support needs.

However, the profile of AHPs and AHP support workers seen identifies potential opportunities for upskilling these professionals in age-related and atypical communication changes for onward referral to speech and language therapists, where appropriate. It may also be indicative of a need to provide training and education around communication support needs and supportive communication strategies to all AHPs and support workers who are coming into contact with people with communication support needs, including, but not exclusive to, users of augmentative and alternative communication.