UF Speech and Hearing Clinic to receive grant to provide speech therapy services to adults in Alachua County

Published: February 22 2006

Category:General

WHAT: The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida’s philanthropic affiliate, will present a $50,000 grant to the UF Speech and Hearing Clinic to provide speech-language services to uninsured adult clients in Alachua and surrounding counties.

WHEN: 2 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 23.

WHERE: Friends of Music Room, University Auditorium, corner of Newell Drive and Stadium Road on campus

BACKGROUND: The UF Speech and Hearing Clinic will use the $50,000 grant from The Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, to increase clinic services to adults, ages 21 to 64, who live in Gainesville and surrounding communities. Adults enrolled in Medicaid or without health insurance have no access to speech-language pathology services in this area at this time. The clinic expects to serve at least 40 to 50 individuals during the year of grant funding.

Blue Foundation officials will present an oversized check to UF Speech and Hearing Clinic directors. UF Provost Janie Fouke and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Neil Sullivan will attend.

The grant will benefit speech-language pathology and audiology students by providing them access to a greater variety of clients for their clinical training. It also provides opportunities to educate caregivers about effective management of communication problems. For the individuals served, it will potentially reduce barriers to independent living, employment and social interaction. Additionally, the grant will enable clinical researchers to document the need for speech-language pathology services in our area.

The UF Speech and Hearing Clinic has existed for more than 40 years in Dauer Hall. The clinic serves as a teaching clinic for students pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees in speech-language pathology or audiology. All patient services are provided by students under the guidance and supervision of faculty members and doctoral students. The supervisors are nationally recognized for their academic, research, and clinical expertise with a variety of communication disorders and hold national certification from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and licensure from the State of Florida.

CONTACT: For more information, please contact Allyson Beutke in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ News and Publications Office at (352) 846-2032 or editor@clas.ufl.edu, or Judith Wingate, UF Speech and Hearing Clinic at (352) 392-2041, ext. 280, or wingate@csd.ufl.edu.

Category:General