The Speech Pathology Service at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center provides comprehensive and personalized treatment for each and every patient. We specialize in identification, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of hearing, speech, communication, voice and swallowing disorders from birth through old age.
The staff of speech pathologists at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center is made up of nine professionals with bachelor’s, master's and doctoral degrees. Speech pathologists have extensive training and experience in the field of hearing, language, communication, voice, speech and swallowing.
The speech pathologists are allied health professionals, who work in close cooperation with other medical staff to help patients and improve their function and quality of life.
Language, speech, voice and communication
The speech pathologists in the inpatient departments focus on diagnosis and maximizing the potential of hospitalized patients to communicate. Neurological and oncological disease, brain traumas and other injuries can potentially harm language, communication, speech and voice capabilities. These diseases may lead to language disorders such as difficulty with retrieval/finding words, aphasia (an acquired language disorder), speech disorders such as dysarthria, dyspraxia, voice and communication disorders.
These difficulties may negatively affect the patient's ability to communicate with their surroundings and impair their independence and function, relationships with family and friends, ability to participate in society and their quality of life.
The speech pathologists diagnose and help realize the patient's language potential to convey and understand a verbal or written message, produce understandable speech and voice. Additionally, the speech pathologists adapt alternative supportive communication aids and make use of technology and devices to improve the patient's function in everyday life.
Swallowing
The work of speech pathologists with patients who have swallowing disorders focuses on diagnosis and assessment of the causes of the disorders and assessment of the risk of aspiration of food or liquid into the lungs. Additionally, their work involves creating a personalized care plan for the unique needs of the patients, taking their abilities and limitations into consideration. The speech pathologists guide the patient and their family and educate them on the types of food that are suitable and the textures that they can eat and drink safely as well as the foods that can put the patient at risk. They also provide emotional and psychological support to the patient and those in close contact with them. This is all done to prevent potential complications such as pneumonia caused by aspiration of food or liquids into the lungs and to improve quality of life.
Hearing
In terms of hearing, the speech pathologists perform a functional diagnosis of the auditory system as well as provide consultation and aural treatment and rehabilitation. Speech pathologists are responsible for checking hearing screening tests in newborns. Every baby that is born at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center undergoes a hearing screening designed to detect hearing loss as early as possible and, if necessary, refer them for comprehensive auditory diagnosis and aural rehabilitation. Delayed detection of hearing loss may lead to a significant delay in speech and language development as well as cognitive, social and emotional skills. If there is a suspected hearing disorder, speech pathologists perform comprehensive behavioral and objective hearing tests at any age. The tests help assess hearing thresholds, hearing sensitivity and ability to distinguish and understand speech.
Child development
Skilled speech pathologists provide specific responses to developmental issues related to language (for example, developmental delay in acquiring language), speech (dyspraxia, selective mutism), communication (autism spectrum, supportive alternative communication), swallowing, voice and more. | 
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