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Dr Deborah Hersh

Associate Professor

Current Teaching

• SPE2105 - Clinical Decision Support Systems: Activity, Participation and Contextual Factors
  
• SPE2106 - Treatment Principles
• SPE4106 - Honours Research Project
• SPE4107 - Preparation of Honours Thesis Proposal
• SPE4108 - Topics in Focus in Speech Pathology
  

Background

Deborah qualified as a speech pathologist in 1989 and then worked in London for three years with adult and paediatric caseloads across a range of clinical settings. In 1993, after completing her MSc in Human Communication at UCL, she moved to Adelaide and continued her clinical work in adult acute, outpatients, rehabilitation and community settings. This included work at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, St Margaret’s Hospital Rehabilitation Service, Southern Domiciliary Care and Flinders Medical Centre (1993-1998). In 1995, Deborah started the Talkback Group Program for Aphasia and established the Talkback Association for Aphasia in 1999. Between 1999 and 2002, Deborah studied at Flinders University for her PhD research exploring experiences of treatment termination in chronic aphasia. Around this time, she also worked as a lecturer A/Clinical Tutor at the Speech Pathology Department at Flinders University and as a Tutor in Clinical Ethics for medical students in the Department of Public Health at Adelaide University. Between 2003 and 2006, Deborah worked as a locum speech and language therapist in London and on senior part-time and locum positions at the Julia Farr Centre, Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre and Metropolitan Domiciliary Care in Adelaide. Between 2006 and 2008, she was employed as a postdoctoral research fellow for the University of Queensland on an NHMRC-funded project grant looking at person-centred goal setting in aphasia rehabilitation, and in 2009, worked as a senior research fellow for the Discipline of Public Health, Flinders University, on the Smoking and Resilience study. In 2010, Deborah moved to Perth and took up a senior lectureship at Edith Cowan University. Deborah has been actively involved in Speech Pathology Australia at national levels, serving on their Ethics Board, Fellowship Committee, ACQ Editorial Board and two national conference organising committees. She has also served on the committee of the Australian Aphasia Association and acted as their representative on the Australia and New Zealand Expert Working Group for the revision of the National Stroke Foundation Stroke Management Guidelines. Deborah was awarded Fellowship of Speech Pathology Australia in 2003, life membership of the Talkback Association for Aphasia in 2009, and holds a position as Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Flinders University.

Professional Memberships

• Speech Pathology Australia
  
• Australian Aphasia Association
  
• Talkback Association for Aphasia, Inc.
  
• Affiliate of Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE – Aphasia Rehabilitation)
• Member of the Australia & New Zealand Expert Working Group on the National Stroke Foundation Stroke Management Guidelines Development 2009-2010

Awards and Recognition

Other

• Fellowship, Speech Pathology Australia
• Life Membership, Talkback Association for Aphasia, Inc.

Research Areas and Interests

• Experiences of ending aphasia therapy for clients, families and clinicians
• Person-centred goal setting in aphasia rehabilitation
• Group approaches for people with aphasia and families
  
• Social approaches and empowerment in aphasia
• Gaining informed consent from people with aphasia/ethical issues
• The therapeutic relationship and professional boundaries
• Resilience and smoking cessation in high risk groups
• Aphasia experiences in Indigenous Australians
• Group approaches for people with aphasia and families
• Experiences of rehabilitation and intervention
  

Staff Qualifications

• Doctor of Philosophy, The Flinders University of South Australia, 2003 .
• Master of Science, England, 1992 .
• Bachelor of Science, England, 1989 .

Research

Recent Research Grants

• Communication difficulties after stroke in Indigenous Australians: Issues and attitudes,  Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies,  AIATSIS - Grant(**),  2010,  $35,541.

Recent Publications (within the last five years)

Journal Articles

• Worrall, L., Sherratt, S., Rogers, P., Howe, T., Hersh, D., Ferguson, A., Davidson, B., (2011), What people with aphasia want: Their goals according to the ICF. Aphasiology, 25(3), 309-322, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2010.508530.
• Tsourtos, G., Ward, PR., Muller, R., Lawn, S., Winefield, AH., Hersh, D., Coveney, J., (2011), The importance of resilience and stress to maintaining smoking abstinence and cessation: A qualitative study in Australia with people diagnosed with depression. Health and Social Care in the Community, 19(3), 299-306, DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2524.2010.00973.x.
• Sherratt, S., Worrall, L., Pearson, C., Howe, T., Hersh, D., Davidson, B., (2011), "Well it has to be language-related": Speech-language pathologists' goals for people with aphasia and their families. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 13(4), 317-328, DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2011.584632.
• Lawn, S., Hersh, D., Ward, PR., Tsourtos, G., Muller, R., Winefield, A., Coveney, J., (2011), 'I just saw it as something that would pull you down, rather than lift you up': Resilience in never-smokers with mental illness. Health Education Research, 26(1), 26-38, DOI: 10.1093/her/cyq065.
• Ward, PR., Muller, R., Tsourtos, G., Hersh, D., Lawn, S., Winefield, AH., Coveney, J., (2011), Additive and subtractive resilience strategies as enablers of biographical reinvention: A qualitative study of ex-smokers and never-smokers. Social Science and Medicine, 72(7), 1140-1148, DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2011.01.023.
• Hersh, D., (2010), Family (mis)interpretation, (mis)communication and (mis)judging aphasia therapy: a case study. ACQuiring Knowledge in Speech, Language and Hearing, 12(2), 59-62, Australia.
• Worrall, L., Davidson, B., Hersh, D., Howe, T., Sherratt, S., Ferguson, A., (2010), The evidence for relationship-centred practice in aphasia rehabilitation. Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 1(2), 277-300, United Kingdom, DOI: 10.1558/jircd.v1i2.277.
• Ferguson, A., Worrall, L., Davidson, B., Hersh, D., Howe, T., Sherratt, S., (2010), Talk about goals in aphasia therapy: A systemic functional analysis. The Journal of Interactional Research in Communication Disorders, 1(1), 95-118, United Kingdom, DOI: 10.1558/jircd.v1i1.95.
• Hersh, D., Cruice, M., (2010), Beginning to teach the end: the importance of including discharge from aphasia therapy in the curriculum. International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders, 45(3), 263-274, United Kingdom, DOI: 10.3109/13682820902994200.
• Worrall, L., Brown, K., Cruice, M., Davidson, B., Hersh, D., Howe, T., Sherratt, S., (2010), The evidence for a life-coaching approach to aphasia. Aphasiology, 24(4), 497?514, DOI: 10.1080/02687030802698152.
• Hersh, D., (2010), Finishing well: The personal impact of ending therapy on speech-language pathologists. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12(4), 329-332, UK, DOI: 10.3109/17549507.2010.489239.
• Hersh, D., (2010), I can't sleep at night with discharging this lady: The personal impact of ending therapy on speech-language pathologists. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 12(4), 283-291, UK, DOI: 10.3109/17549501003721072.
• Ferguson, A., Worrall, L., Davidson, B., Hersh, D., Howe, T., Sherratt, S., (2010), Describing the experience of aphasia rehabilitation through metaphor. Aphasiology, 24(6-8), 685-696, United Kingdom, DOI: 10.1080/02687030903438508.
• O'Halloran, R., Hersh, D., Laplante-Levesque, A., Worrall, L., (2010), Person-Centeredness, Ethics, and Stories of Risk. Seminars in Speech and Language, 31(2), 81-89, New York, USA, DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1252109.
• Sherratt, S., Hersh, D., (2010), "You feel like family..." Professional boundaries and social model aphasia groups. International Journal of Speech Language Pathology, 12(2), 152-161, Australia, DOI: 10.3109/17549500903521806.
• Hersh, D., (2010), Aphasia therapists' stories of ending the therapeutic relationship. Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation, 17(1), 30-38, United States, DOI: 10.1310/tsr1701-30.
• Hersh, D., (2009), Breaking the connection: Why is it so difficult to talk about discharge with our clients with aphasia?. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 11(2), 147-154, United Kingdom, DOI: 10.1080/17549500802579103.
• Hersh, D., (2008), How do people with aphasia view their discharge from therapy?. Aphasiology, 23(3), 331-350, United Kingdom, DOI: 10.1080/02687030701764220.

Research Student Supervision

Associate Supervisor

• Master of Social Science,  Face-to-face: An Exploratory Study Of How People With Aphasia And Speakers Of English As A Second Language Perceive Their Interactions With Government Agencies.