a woman speaks to her young child in a park

To improve language learning, look beyond socioeconomic status

Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) households tend to show lower levels of language and communicative skills than those from higher SES homes at the group level. But these group-level findings provide limited information about the individual strengths and needs of families. A broad generalization suggesting low SES as a predictor of poor language learning can lead to stereotyping and obscure what parental interactions with children really do make a difference. A new study from the College of Public Health’s Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders seeks to...
Language and cognition
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Research
illustration of a man in a video chat window passing a yellow folder to a woman in another video chat window above him.

Researchers to build 'Collaboratory' for aphasia research

Communication Sciences and Disorders professor Nadine Martin has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to build a cloud-based library of specialized information, access her Temple laboratory’s pioneering test battery for individuals with aphasia, and establish an online “Collaboratory” where aphasia researchers from different institutions can conduct studies together. “The aim is to advance aphasia research by helping researchers build better studies, increase numbers of participants, and share their findings and measurements,” says Martin, a Lau...
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Research
patient and nurse communicating over a tablet

Research on improving patient-provider communication recognized by ASHA

One potential way to improve both the outcomes and the economics of hospital stays is simply to help more patients communicate better, suggests a Temple co-authored paper that has been recognized for excellence by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). The article, “Improving Patient Safety and Patient-Provider Communication,” explores the use of augmentative and alternative communications (AAC) strategies for patients who have difficulty accessing conventional nurse call systems due to their conditions or treatment.   The paper, co-authored by Rebecca A...
Communication Sciences and Disorders

Explore the Fall 2020 issue of Temple Public Health

In this year’s Temple Public Health magazine, you’ll read about how the college turned a challenging year into opportunities for great change: how we adapted our classrooms and research efforts, how we shared our expertise to inform the public, and how our students and faculty supported relief efforts on the front lines. You’ll also learn about the many ways the college’s research thrived despite these challenges, as we collaborated across our 20 disciplines to connect individual well-being with societal change.  Explore the magazine below:...
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Health Services Administration and Policy
Kinesiology
Nursing
Social and Behavioral Sciences
School of Social Work
temple campus during quarantine

A guide to CPH at the APHA annual meeting

Faculty and students in the College of Public Health will deliver more than 50 presentations at this year’s APHA Annual Meeting, October 24-28. Presentations come from across the college’s numerous research labs, as well as from the Center for Obesity Research and Education, the Collaborative on Community Inclusion, and the Center for Public Health Law Research. A full list of sessions from the College of Public Health and Temple University is listed below.  The 2020 annual meeting, held entirely online, includes a mix of live virtual sessions and on-demand recordings focu...
Research
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Social Work
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
Health Services Administration and Policy
Kinesiology
Nursing
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Temple campus

College welcomes new chairs and senior leadership

The College of Public Health has added new senior leadership to its faculty, welcoming new chairs in the Department of Kinesiology and Department of Health Services Administration and Policy, as well as an associate dean for clinical affairs and interprofessional practice, a position new to the college.  “We are tremendously fortunate to have attracted a stellar group of new colleagues who are joining us this summer and fall," said Laura A. Siminoff, dean of the College of Public Health. Susan VonNessen-Scanlin, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and Interprofessional Prac...
Faculty
Nursing
Health Services Administration and Policy
Kinesiology
Epidemiology and Biostatistics
Communication Sciences and Disorders
School of Social Work
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
student practicing american sign language

Speech, Language and hearing students bring ASL classes to local high school

Extracurricular clubs are routine for the high-achieving students at George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science, a magnet school in Philadelphia. So it was impressive—but not unusual—to see around 20 students after school on a Monday afternoon learning American Sign Language. The class is a partnership with the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders in the College of Public Health. Three undergraduate students were volunteer instructors: two majoring in speech, language and hearing science, and one in psychology. The ASL instruction, interru...
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Students
Community
parent and child reading

Study to examine how caregivers impact childhood language learning

Early childhood language difficulties can have a snowball effect, impacting children’s ability to learn and express themselves. As director of the Language, Literacy, and Learning Lab in the College of Public Health, Rebecca Alper knows that parent-implemented early language intervention can be very effective—but approaches that work well for some families don’t work as well for others. There’s been much research on different kinds of interventions and childhood factors that may predict success. But, surprisingly, researchers haven’t closely examined how much the re...
Language and cognition
Children
Communication Sciences and Disorders
characters used instead of swear words

Understanding what makes a swear effective could lead to advances in treating brain injury

The way we might impulsively blurt out a profanity, in response to anger or surprise or hitting a thumb with a hammer, suggests curse words might have a special place in our brains, accessed a little bit differently than ordinary language. The study of taboo words has been a little bit taboo itself. But there is legitimate academic and health rationale for studying profane language, says associate professor Jamie Reilly, who directs the Memory, Concepts and Cognition Lab in the College of Public Health. “I've seen lots of patients clinically who curse after they’ve had bra...
Language and cognition
Communication Sciences and Disorders
actors in the PACT holiday performance

PACT theater group brings holiday cheers of applause

In a packed conference room inside Ritter Annex, snow was falling and laughter rang out as, one by one, a crowd of people dropped money into a bucket. Then, a chime. At the front of the room, someone says: “Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.”  Soon after, a group of nearly 10 adults takes a bow as they finish their performance of the ending scene from Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life. The show was more than holiday entertainment: It was part of a new therapeutic theater group in PACT, the Philadelphia Aphasia Community at Temple.  PACT provides p...
Community
Communication Sciences and Disorders

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