We work with our Vietnamese partners to support the emerging speech and language therapy (SALT) profession in Vietnam through education and training and development of speech therapy services.
Trinh Foundation Australia (TFA) is a non-profit charitable organisation based in Australia. We are independent and have no political or religious affiliations and primarily run by volunteers.
Our mission is simple, to assist the Vietnamese people to establish Speech Therapy as a profession in their country, through university-based training programs, mentoring, practical expertise and resources. This is achieved in collaboration with organisations in Vietnam and a growing number of qualified Vietnamese speech language therapists (SLTs).
Through these partnerships our goal is to build sustainable local capacity to develop rehabilitation services and highly qualified SALT professionals to assist Vietnamese people with communication and swallowing disorders.
In developed countries, communication and swallowing disorders occur in about 1 in 7 people at some point in the life span.
With a population of over 90 million, and with the legacy of defoliants from the war, poor maternal and child health and nutrition, communication and swallowing disorders can be expected to affect about 13 million people in Vietnam.
Until 2010, when TFA collaborated with the Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine in HCMC, there were no Vietnamese speech therapists nor formal training courses in Speech Therapy in Vietnam. This partnership resulted in 65 qualified SLTs, including 32 paediatric specialists.
In 2017 we partnered with MCNV (Medical Committee Netherlands Vietnam) and with funding from USAID provided lecturers and clinical supervisors for the first masters course in Vietnam at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy (HCMC) and the first Bachelor of Rehabilitation Techniques with SALT specialisation at Da Nang University of Medical Technology and Pharmacy.
Building on these outcomes TFA is continuing to partner with MCNV and others (supported by USAID) to support graduates with mentoring, CPD and specialist resources and advice.
Communication disorders include problems with speech, using and understanding language, voice, fluency and hearing impairment.
Reading and writing can also be affected by communication problems. Speech Language Therapists also work with people who have difficulty swallowing food and drink.
These disorders can be associated with conditions such as cleft lip & palate, cerebral palsy, intellectual impairment, stroke, head injury, hearing loss, vocal fold dysfunction and autism spectrum disorder.