The importance of SDG 17 and equitable partnerships in maximising participation of persons with communication disabilities and their families.

Background: Equitable partnerships across borders, sectors and communities are integral in creating shared understanding, novel solutions and sustainable development. Sustainable development goal (SDG) 17: Partnerships for goals, focuses on strengthening global partnerships. This highlights the importance of partnership as a tool to support the achievement of all SDGs.

Stitching a new garment: Considering the future of the speech-language therapy profession globally.

Providing equitable support for people experiencing communication disability (CD) globally is a historical and contemporary challenge for the speech-language therapy profession. A group of speech-language therapists (SLTs) with ongoing and sustained experiences in Majority and Minority World contexts participated in five virtual meetings in 2021. The aim of these meetings was to develop provocative statements that might spur a global discussion among individuals and organisations that support people experiencing CD.

The congressionally directed medical research programs' Ovarian Cancer Academy: a new approach to training in biomedical research.

Introduction: Researchers have begun to change their approach to training in the biomedical sciences through the development of communities of practice (CoPs). CoPs share knowledge across clinical and laboratory contexts to promote the progress of clinical and translational science. The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs' (CDMRP) Ovarian Cancer Academy (OCA) was designed as a virtual CoP to promote interactions among early career investigators (ECIs) and their mentors with the goal of eliminating ovarian cancer.

Barriers and Facilitators to Conversation: A Qualitative Exploration of the Experiences of People with Parkinson's and Their Close Communication Partners.

Conversations are an important part of our daily lives, enabling us to interact with others and participate in a range of activities. For people with Parkinson's, conversation can be challenging when communication is impacted. This qualitative exploratory study investigated the experiences of people with Parkinson's and their close communication partners in conversations.

Communication strategies used by Parkinson's nurse specialists during healthcare interactions: A qualitative descriptive study.

Aim: To explore the range and use of communication strategies by Parkinson's nurse specialists, and describe key communication strategies, to support health professionals in their healthcare interactions with people with Parkinson's.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the study took place in an online setting.

Community service providers' roles in supporting communication disability rehabilitation in Majority World contexts: An example from Ghana.

: In Majority World countries, where speech-language pathology services are extremely limited, people with communication disabilities (PWCD) may seek help from a range of service providers. This qualitative research aimed to explore the nature of community services offered to people with communication disabilities who seek help in Accra, Ghana.: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine individuals from three professions: pastors (3), doctors (3), and herbalists (3) exploring services that they may offer to PWCD seeking help.

Communication rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of speech and language therapists.

Background: Workforce factors present a significant barrier to the development of rehabilitation services for people with communication disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Exploring how the work of speech and language therapists (SLTs) in the region is organised and delivered can provide insight into existing services, areas for future workforce development and improved rehabilitation access for people with communication disability.

Objectives: This paper describes the employment and service provision patterns and work roles of a sample of SLTs in SSA.

Self-help and help-seeking for communication disability in Ghana: implications for the development of communication disability rehabilitation services.

Background: In low and middle-income countries, such as Ghana, communication disability is poorly recognised and rehabilitation services for people with communication disability are limited. As rehabilitation services for communication disability develop, and the profession of speech-language pathology grows, it is important to consider how services can most appropriately respond to the needs and preferences of the community. Understanding the ways in which people currently self-help and seek help for communication disability is central to developing services that build on existing local practices and are relevant to the community.

Communication rehabilitation in sub-Saharan Africa: A workforce profile of speech and language therapists.

Background: There is an urgent global need to strengthen rehabilitation services for people with disabilities. In sub-Saharan Africa, rehabilitation services for people with communication disabilities continue to be underdeveloped. A first step in strengthening services for people with a communication disabilities is to understand the composition and conditions of the current workforce.

Identification of a polyomavirus microRNA highly expressed in tumors.

Polyomaviruses (PyVs) are associated with tumors including Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC). Several PyVs encode microRNAs (miRNAs) but to date no abundant PyV miRNAs have been reported in tumors. To better understand the function of the Merkel cell PyV (MCPyV) miRNA, we examined phylogenetically-related viruses for miRNA expression.

Adopting public health approaches to communication disability: challenges for the education of speech-language pathologists.

Public health approaches to communication disability challenge the profession of speech-language pathology (SLP) to reconsider both frames of reference for practice and models of education. This paper reviews the impetus for public health approaches to communication disability and considers how public health is, and could be, incorporated into SLP education, both now and in the future. The paper describes tensions between clinical services, which have become increasingly specialized, and public health approaches that offer a broader view of communication disability and communication disability prevention.

The World Report on Disability: an impetus to reconceptualize services for people with communication disability.

Challenges to the conceptualization and delivery of services for people with communication disabilities (PWCD) have been described in the lead article in this issue, which was itself a response to the World Report on Disability. A number of commentaries followed the lead article, where authors from around the world responded to the lead article (Wylie, McAllister, Davidson & Marshall, 2013), and the World Report on Disability. This paper synthesizes the issues, ideas, and challenges raised in the preceding commentaries.

Changing practice: implications of the World Report on Disability for responding to communication disability in under-served populations.

The World Report on Disability provides a major challenge to the conceptualization and delivery of services for people with communication disabilities around the world. Many people, in both Majority and Minority World countries, receive limited or no support in relation to their communication disability. In this paper the prevalence of communication disability across the world (and the challenges to obtaining these data) are discussed, particularly in relation to disability more broadly.