St. Joseph’s Speech Language Pathology Program is serving some of Canada’s Most Remote Communities

In an important stride towards inclusive and accessible healthcare, St. Joseph’s Speech Language Pathology program has extended its services to reach both adults and children in the remote communities of Nunavut. This new virtual program is breaking down geographical barriers and ensuring that much-needed speech language services are available in some of Canada’s most isolated regions.

This new initiative is a tremendous step in providing equitable healthcare services. St. Joseph’s dedicated speech language pathologists are overcoming language and technology barriers as well as navigating cross-cultural nuances to ensure a holistic and comprehensive approach to speech language therapy.

“Our partnership with the Government of Nunavut Department of Health, allows us to contribute to better patient care in the far North, while also giving us the opportunity to learn from the creativity of Nunavut clinical teams who deliver care without ready access to all the resources we have in the South. Partnership and collaboration have always been close to the heart of our Mission,” shares John Woods, St. Joseph’s Health Centre President and Executive Lead for the Nunavut Partnership.

Courtney Butler (top left) St. Joseph’s Communicative Disorders Assistant & Claire Dalzell, Licensed Practical Nurse, Government of Nunavut.

“St. Joe’s speech language pathology team have been fantastic in their ability to build relationships with our community members via telehealth. This is not an easy task to accomplish with language barriers, technology issues and cross-cultural considerations.

I cannot stress enough how considerate this team has been, and how easy they are to work with, the trust that they have managed to build up via a computer screen is something rare. Their ability to assess clients, start to learn their language and be genuinely interested in the correct pronunciation of not one but two languages, is something the whole community appreciates.

The St. Joe’s team should be so proud of the services they offer.”

-Claire, Clyde River Healthcare
Services, Nunavut

 

This story was published in the fall 2023 edition of St. Joe’s Newsletter.