Prolonged COVID has affected as many as 23 million Americans and more, many of whom have decreased cognitive function, memory, concentration, and communication. As employers and health care providers struggle to help those in need, speech treatment has become a valuable form of treatment.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that other people with COVID-19 are at increased risk of developing neurological disorders in the first year of infection. Avivit Ben-Aharon, speech-language pathologist and discoverer and clinical director of the virtual speech-language pathology platform Great Speech has noticed that clients struggle with once-crazy tasks, such as remembering the word “table” or answering undeniable questions about the weather.
“In fact, we’re seeing more patients reporting all sorts of symptoms that appear to be COVID-related; this affects their ability to process and interpret information,” Ben-Aharon says. “As a result, speech is affected by slow reaction time, which affects the ability to succeed. “
More: The Value of Long COVID: What Undiagnosed Disease Costs Employers
Caryn Foster Fitzgerald, a clinical nurse educator founded in New Jersey, knows this struggle firsthand. Fitzgerald, a palliative care nurse practitioner before COVID made the search too difficult. After battling COVID in September 2021, he sought out a speech-language pathologist with Great Speech. to help manage your symptoms. Fitzgerald saw significant improvements, but contracted COVID in January 2022 and was off work for an entire year. She turned to training after deciding she no longer felt safe.
“I couldn’t think of words. I couldn’t express myself,” Fitzgerald said. Moody in my speech. “
Ben-Aharon points out that Fitzgerald’s experience is not unique. She has noticed that patients lose concentration in the middle of a sentence, increase stuttering, and unconsciously pull parts of words or sentences out of their minds. Multilingual patients even reported having more powerful accents or speaking more in their native language despite the innovations or expertise they had acquired in their language so far.
Read more: ‘Treat it like a disease’: The company’s long COVID slows down worker productivity
Ben-Aharon theorizes that short-term memory is affected by the long COVID, but there are tactics about it. A common exercise Ben-Aharon practices with his patients is word searching.
“If you’re looking to think about the word ‘table,’ it can be helpful to combine it with a bunch of other words like ‘chair’ and ‘pencil’ to make it less difficult to retrieve,” he says. We’re looking to help our members map the words in their brains so they can do it more easily. “
Essentially, by grouping words together, you’re more likely not to forget a word that reminds you of the word you want. Speech-language pathologists also help patients accumulate the number of words they can retain in a short period of time. time. For example, a therapist would possibly say two words to a patient he doesn’t want to forget later in his session. The therapist will slowly increase the number of words so that the patient can remember them.
Fitzgerald’s therapist helped her manage constant stuttering, a skill Fitzgerald is grateful for, as she now spends her time training the next generation of nurses.
“I try to work my way through stuttering, but now I pause and give my brain time to send the words to my mouth,” she says. “There may be pauses in my speech because I try not to stutter. “
Read more: How Employers Can Hire Staff Suffering with Long COVID
While Fitzgerald says the speech exercises helped her manage her symptoms, this doesn’t go away overnight. You are asked to write scripts to prepare for formal lectures or conversations.
Beyond that, Fitzgerald still has a long list of COVID symptoms, such as shaking in his head when there’s too much stimulation in his environment, lack of balance, and worsening tinnitus or ringing in the ears.
Ben-Aharon advises employers to know which employees are experiencing prolonged COVID and to be patient with their recovery. This means giving staff more time for full responsibilities and projects, extending leave for poor physical condition and, if possible, the opportunity to work from home. . Ben-Aharon predicts that more employers will want to integrate physical care benefits that also help staff manage the long COVID. She suggests reevaluating benefits as soon as possible.
“It’s nothing made up, but a documented result of COVID,” she says. “A giant percentage of the population has been affected to one degree or another by COVID. It will not be unusual for us to have several workers from the same organization suffering from similar problems. “
These disorders are permanent, if not indefinite. Employers may want permanent changes to their culture and work policies if they want their workers to succeed. Fitzgerald admits she still suffers and doesn’t feel comfortable returning to the infirmary. However, speech-language pathology helped her regain the confidence to enter the world. Once again.
“My husband and I are very grateful for what [my therapist] has done for me,” Fitzgerald says. “At least I can say that I paint and make a contribution to society and my profession. “
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