Everyone has the right to communication

The Ukrainian Society for Speech and Language Therapy was founded in 2018 with the aim of establishing and developing a modern autonomous healthcare profession "speech and language therapist", working with the full range of communication and swallowing disorders in people of different ages and providing evidence-based clinical practice.

The main goal of our activity is to develop high-quality modern speech and language therapy in Ukraine, synthesizing the best international practices and knowledge. On the one hand, we want Ukrainians to receive high-quality therapy services, and on the other hand, we want speech and language therapists to have decent working conditions, a reputation in the clinical environment and respect in society. Today, our society is a leader in creating policies for speech and language therapy in Ukraine and forming a network of connections with international colleagues.

• Thanks to the activities of our society, a speech and language therapist has become an essential member of every rehabilitation team.

• Thanks to the active advocacy of the speech and language therapist in the healthcare sector, today the public vision of the profession, the demand and respect for the profession have significantly increased.

However, it is important that this title is also associated with quality, which is why the speech and language therapist is a regulated profession in the healthcare sector.

Formation of a modern healthcare profession "speech and language therapist" in Ukraine that meets the challenges of today and the requirements of time.

We believe that a patient needs a competent speech and language therapist to provide quality therapy for communication and swallowing disorders, and a speech and language therapist needs quality education to provide quality services.

As a professional organization, we

1. form a community of professionals,
2. create opportunities for professional development,
3. create policies for the profession.

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2014, Ukraine has been developing rehabilitation for wounded soldiers. However, the main focus of the state strategy was on physical therapy, and later on occupational therapy. Communication and swallowing disorders in defenders remained outside of any discussions, and there was no social awareness in society about the presence and consequences of such disorders in adults. Healthcare facilities, especially military hospitals, lacked appropriate specialists, and higher education institutions did not initiate changes in this area. Government agencies did not address the issue of communication and swallowing disorders at all, and this issue remained outside the public interest.

In 2017, Oksana Lyalka began to actively work with defenders who had acquired communication disorders as a result of injuries and strokes at the Military Medical Clinical Center of the Western Region. Since there was no separate room, which was a requirement for the sessions, the sessions were held in a wheelchair repair shop.

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In the summer of 2018, Oksana Lyalka organized the first camp for veterans with acquired communication disorders called "Speak Again" at the Rivne Regional Hospital for War Veterans under the Rivne Regional Council. This became a prerequisite for the creation of our NGO, the Ukrainian Society for Speech and Language Therapy.

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In December 2018, together with Tetiana Mizerak and Viktoriia Baybuzenko, Oksana Lyalka founded the Ukrainian Society for Speech and Language Therapy. Since then, the society has been active in pursuing policies to create and develop a modern and prestigious profession of "speech and language therapist" in the healthcare sector, bringing together professionals who want to work in the field and share the values of modern speech and language therapy, establishing links with international organizations, and studying international experience to take it into account in the development of speech and language therapy in Ukraine.

Thanks to the establishment of active cooperation with strategic partners, the Ukrainian Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, the Ukrainian Unity of Physical Therapists, the Ukrainian Society of Occupational Therapists and public authorities, our NGO "Ukrainian Society of Speech and Language Therapy" has joined the following steps in the development of speech and language therapy:

1. In 2020, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law on Rehabilitation in the Healthcare Sector of Ukraine, which introduced a speech and language therapist as a mandatory professional in the rehabilitation team.
2. In 2021, a new profession “speech and language therapist” was added to the National Classifier of Occupations in paragraph 2229.2. This was the beginning of the development of speech and language therapy as an autonomous profession in the healthcare system of Ukraine.
3. In 2021, the Ministry of Health published Order No. 771 of 20.04.2021 on Approval of the Protocol for the Provision of Rehabilitation Care to Patients with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) and Recovering Patients, which also outlined the role and function of a speech and language therapist.
4. In 2021, the CMU issued a resolution on the organization of rehabilitation in the healthcare sector, that for the first time described the role and duties of a speech and language therapist, determined the time of work (5 hours with patients and 2 hours for documentation), and also indicated that a speech and language therapist should have an individual office for working with patients.
5. In 2023, a new version of the amendments to the Handbook of Qualification Characteristics of Workers` Occupation was published. Issue 78 “Health Care”, which describes the qualification characteristics for the profession of “speech and language therapist”.

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