Laura
09-11-2007, 11:44 PM
http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/pr_aca_070911b.stj
St. John's News
St. John’s Speech-Language Pathology Professor Launches Volunteer Program at St. Vincent’s Medical Center
St. John’s Speech-Language Pathology Professor Launches Volunteer Program at St. Vincent’s Medical Center
September 11, 2007
As the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign heats up, several candidates are looking at the issue of health care, arguing that many Americans’ inadequate insurance coverage prevents them from seeking proper treatment. In the case of aphasia — an impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually acquired as the result of a stroke or other brain injury — many of those afflicted are unable to access the clinical care and support they need.
This lack of access has motivated José Centeno, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP), to take matters into his own hands: last year, he joined a small handful of other concerned SLPs and began offering pro bono clinical services for stroke survivors and their families at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, in Manhattan. Beginning September 17, Centeno, a leading expert in the effects of aphasia on bilingual individuals, and his colleagues will launch what is perhaps the country’s first volunteer program dedicated to Spanish-English bilingual aphasia patients.
Centeno is the country’s “foremost researcher in Spanish-English bilingual aphasia,” says Dorothy Ross, Ph.D., Clinical Specialist at St. Vincent’s. And his message is clear: bilingual aphasiacs are affected in very different ways than monolingual aphasiacs, and too often they are treated improperly.
Centeno explains that Spanish-English speakers learn each language using a different thought process. Many Latin Americans, for example, rely on informality to learn Spanish at home, while relying on technicality to learn English in school. For this reason, they often never learn to read and write in Spanish. When such a person undergoes a stroke and is left without the ability to speak English, he or she often is stripped of the ability to read and write as well.
“You can only use a language in the way in which you learned it,” explains Centeno, noting that even he struggles to write complex sentences in Spanish, despite his Venezuelan upbringing. “Clinicians need to be aware of this.”
There are several other factors that lead to clinicians’ misconceptions about proper treatment for bilingual aphasiacs. Chiefly, says Centeno, there is no “cookie-cutter” pattern as to how bilingual individuals respond to stroke; some may lose their English, others their Spanish, and still others might experience unpredictable fluctuations in their ability to speak both.
Moreover, there are a host of social, economic, educational, prejudicial and other cultural factors at play, which clinicians often fail to realize. Many bilingual aphasics are poor, and many others are immigrants. Such factors often cultivate biases against therapy and influence their ability to cope with the effects of a stroke. In North America, explains Centeno, there is a tendency is to “empower” the disabled. But in many Latin cultures, disabilities are viewed as “catastrophic,” and stroke patients often feel stripped of their independence.
Empowering Patients
At St. Vincent’s, Centeno and his colleagues help aphasia survivors and their “co-survivors” adjust to their situations. Just as clinicians need help understanding that bilingual aphasiacs are not in any way intellectually impaired, so, too, do the patients’ family members and significant others.
During the group sessions, many questions arise: “How do co-survivors react when the patient has difficulty saying something?” “Do they speak for the person?” “Is it stressful?” “Do patients become angry?”
“We’re trying to empower the patients by facilitating communication and giving them a sense of independence,” says Centeno. “We help them and their families develop new life skills, voice their concerns and understand that this is not a problem of intellect.”
He adds that he hopes his work at St. Vincent’s inspires bilingual aphasics to help other stroke patients within their home communities.
The Vincentian Way
Centeno is rare in that he is both researcher and clinician. “I like not only the theoretical part, but also the human side, the social side — where the person comes from, how he or she feels,” says Centeno, a former full-time practitioner.
“He’s very personal, very warm,” says his colleague, Ross. “Some academics are too busy to talk to anybody, but he’s always there for people.”
Much of Centeno’s research to date has been based on paradigms previously used in studies on bilingual children, which have uncovered many flaws in the country’s clinical service system. But the St. John’s professor says he has yet to come across in-depth research on the subject of bilingual aphasiacs.
“Many clinicians don’t understand what a bilingual patient is,” says Centeno. “A bilingual person is not a monolingual person, and no one has really assessed what’s happening with bilingual adults. There’s very limited information.”
Centeno currently is using a University seed grant to conduct a pilot study, expected to show both the strengths and weaknesses in service delivery with bilingual aphasic persons across the United States. He cites recent U.S. Census data pointing to a steady increase of bilingual elderly people living in the country.
Recently, Centeno was asked to lead the newly formed Multicultural Task Force for the National Aphasia Association, which was established to enhance the understanding and intervention of aphasia and its consequences in different linguistic and sociocultural environments.
Centeno’s research, clinical work and volunteerism reflect perfectly the University’s Vincentian mission to serve the poor and disenfranchised.
“Ultimately, I just want to train my students how to understand and provide services for the underprivileged, such as immigrants, minorities and bilingual people,” he says. He adds that his research is intended to “facilitate the understanding of service delivery in the socially and racially diverse groups in the city … and enhance social justice and cultural sensitivity.”
Centeno is the author of several scholarly articles and recently co-edited a book titled “Communication Disorders in Spanish Speakers: Theoretical, Research and Clinical Aspects.” He has been an editorial consultant for professional journals and is a member of various national and international committees on multicultural concerns in speech-language pathologies.
St. John's News
St. John’s Speech-Language Pathology Professor Launches Volunteer Program at St. Vincent’s Medical Center
St. John’s Speech-Language Pathology Professor Launches Volunteer Program at St. Vincent’s Medical Center
September 11, 2007
As the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign heats up, several candidates are looking at the issue of health care, arguing that many Americans’ inadequate insurance coverage prevents them from seeking proper treatment. In the case of aphasia — an impairment of the ability to use or comprehend words, usually acquired as the result of a stroke or other brain injury — many of those afflicted are unable to access the clinical care and support they need.
This lack of access has motivated José Centeno, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Speech-Language Pathology and a licensed speech-language pathologist (SLP), to take matters into his own hands: last year, he joined a small handful of other concerned SLPs and began offering pro bono clinical services for stroke survivors and their families at St. Vincent’s Medical Center, in Manhattan. Beginning September 17, Centeno, a leading expert in the effects of aphasia on bilingual individuals, and his colleagues will launch what is perhaps the country’s first volunteer program dedicated to Spanish-English bilingual aphasia patients.
Centeno is the country’s “foremost researcher in Spanish-English bilingual aphasia,” says Dorothy Ross, Ph.D., Clinical Specialist at St. Vincent’s. And his message is clear: bilingual aphasiacs are affected in very different ways than monolingual aphasiacs, and too often they are treated improperly.
Centeno explains that Spanish-English speakers learn each language using a different thought process. Many Latin Americans, for example, rely on informality to learn Spanish at home, while relying on technicality to learn English in school. For this reason, they often never learn to read and write in Spanish. When such a person undergoes a stroke and is left without the ability to speak English, he or she often is stripped of the ability to read and write as well.
“You can only use a language in the way in which you learned it,” explains Centeno, noting that even he struggles to write complex sentences in Spanish, despite his Venezuelan upbringing. “Clinicians need to be aware of this.”
There are several other factors that lead to clinicians’ misconceptions about proper treatment for bilingual aphasiacs. Chiefly, says Centeno, there is no “cookie-cutter” pattern as to how bilingual individuals respond to stroke; some may lose their English, others their Spanish, and still others might experience unpredictable fluctuations in their ability to speak both.
Moreover, there are a host of social, economic, educational, prejudicial and other cultural factors at play, which clinicians often fail to realize. Many bilingual aphasics are poor, and many others are immigrants. Such factors often cultivate biases against therapy and influence their ability to cope with the effects of a stroke. In North America, explains Centeno, there is a tendency is to “empower” the disabled. But in many Latin cultures, disabilities are viewed as “catastrophic,” and stroke patients often feel stripped of their independence.
Empowering Patients
At St. Vincent’s, Centeno and his colleagues help aphasia survivors and their “co-survivors” adjust to their situations. Just as clinicians need help understanding that bilingual aphasiacs are not in any way intellectually impaired, so, too, do the patients’ family members and significant others.
During the group sessions, many questions arise: “How do co-survivors react when the patient has difficulty saying something?” “Do they speak for the person?” “Is it stressful?” “Do patients become angry?”
“We’re trying to empower the patients by facilitating communication and giving them a sense of independence,” says Centeno. “We help them and their families develop new life skills, voice their concerns and understand that this is not a problem of intellect.”
He adds that he hopes his work at St. Vincent’s inspires bilingual aphasics to help other stroke patients within their home communities.
The Vincentian Way
Centeno is rare in that he is both researcher and clinician. “I like not only the theoretical part, but also the human side, the social side — where the person comes from, how he or she feels,” says Centeno, a former full-time practitioner.
“He’s very personal, very warm,” says his colleague, Ross. “Some academics are too busy to talk to anybody, but he’s always there for people.”
Much of Centeno’s research to date has been based on paradigms previously used in studies on bilingual children, which have uncovered many flaws in the country’s clinical service system. But the St. John’s professor says he has yet to come across in-depth research on the subject of bilingual aphasiacs.
“Many clinicians don’t understand what a bilingual patient is,” says Centeno. “A bilingual person is not a monolingual person, and no one has really assessed what’s happening with bilingual adults. There’s very limited information.”
Centeno currently is using a University seed grant to conduct a pilot study, expected to show both the strengths and weaknesses in service delivery with bilingual aphasic persons across the United States. He cites recent U.S. Census data pointing to a steady increase of bilingual elderly people living in the country.
Recently, Centeno was asked to lead the newly formed Multicultural Task Force for the National Aphasia Association, which was established to enhance the understanding and intervention of aphasia and its consequences in different linguistic and sociocultural environments.
Centeno’s research, clinical work and volunteerism reflect perfectly the University’s Vincentian mission to serve the poor and disenfranchised.
“Ultimately, I just want to train my students how to understand and provide services for the underprivileged, such as immigrants, minorities and bilingual people,” he says. He adds that his research is intended to “facilitate the understanding of service delivery in the socially and racially diverse groups in the city … and enhance social justice and cultural sensitivity.”
Centeno is the author of several scholarly articles and recently co-edited a book titled “Communication Disorders in Spanish Speakers: Theoretical, Research and Clinical Aspects.” He has been an editorial consultant for professional journals and is a member of various national and international committees on multicultural concerns in speech-language pathologies.