Is communication a barrier or concern for someone in your life?
The staff members here at Universal Home Care are medical professionals with experience in augmentative and alternative communication therapies and techniques. This is the type of therapy that can help provide a means of communication to those who might otherwise have to stay silent.
Alternative Augmentative Communication (AAC) comes in two primary forms. These are unaided and aided communication and our caring staff here at Universal Home Care is able to help with each. An unaided alternative communication method would include an example like sign language. This means that there is a way of communication that is different from regular speech that can be completed by a patient without the use of any external equipment.
Assisted communication methods are those that use some form of equipment or technology to allow the patient to communicate with their Universal Home Care worker or with friends and family. This can include something as simple as coming up with a code where the patient can indicate yes or no to certain questions, to the use of sophisticated computer devices that can aid them in communicating.
The communication training that is required from Universal Home Care staff is for the patient and those who live and interact with them. For alternative or augmented communication to be effective, it must be understood by both parties in a conversation. Without that joint understanding, the patient will be continually struggling to be understood which can make it much more difficult to meet their needs.
Instead, the patient and their caregivers should learn the communication methods together. As they are trained, they will begin to have access to greater and greater potential for two way communication. This is also important for patients receiving ongoing treatment because, as their communication skills improve, so does their ability to describe what they are feeling. This is a key to treatments in many cases.
