Speech Therapy Improves the Quality of Life of Our Residents!

How can Speech Therapy Help me?

In the environment of a long-term care facility or a memory care unit, Speech Therapy generally involves supporting residents in re-learning processes due to strokes, brain injuries, and disorders like Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and other types of dementia. When correctly stimulated, the human brain has an impressive capacity for overcoming hardships or adapting and working around them.

Will I see always the same therapist?

At Via, we pride to have an in-house team of therapists. For our residents, it means to develop a relationship with a professional who know their needs and follow their evolution closely. If you are searching facilities for a loved one, don’t forget to ask if the therapists are employees or a third-part.

Are the sessions individual?

Each resident has a treatment plan developed for their specific needs. The approach to a patient who had a stroke and needs to re-acquire speaking skills differs from a Parkinson’s disease patient who needs to preserve their ability to swallow. The regularity of the sessions is essential to achieve progress, and with an in-house therapist, the resident has reliable access to the treatment.

Meet our Speech Pathologist

Jillian Hinners got her degreee at Rockhurst University, in Kansas City, and is with Via Health Services since 2017.

Which are the most commom causes that lead residents to need Speech Therapy? Generally, I see residents with cognitive-linguistic decline and swallowing deficits in the long-term care population. On the skilled side, I see cognitive-linguistic deficits, Dysphagia (swallowing disorders), and speech and language deficits.

Reasons to love working with older adults: I love working with the geriatric population, learning my residents’ stories, and gaining advice on lasting relationships and what’s really important in life.