Hywel Dda Health Charities has awarded £33,118 to the Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service to purchase a suite of Iowa Oral Performance Instrument assessment and rehabilitation devices.

The clinically validated tools are used in supporting those with communication and swallowing problems by measuring and strengthening the tongue and lip muscles.

By providing measurements and biofeedback, the devices support personalised therapy plans, enhance patient engagement, and improve therapy outcomes.

The funding has enabled the Health Board to expand access to the devices across multiple acute and community sites and will support a wide range of patients, particularly those recovering from stroke; those with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and motor neurone disease; and those with age-related swallowing difficulties linked to frailty.

Within the health board’s stroke services, the device will have a positive impact on the rehabilitation of acute stroke patients with new swallowing and communication difficulties.

Alison Thomas, Head of the Adult Speech and Language Therapy Service at Hywel Dda, said: “Our teams are seeing increasing numbers of patients who require targeted therapy to help with swallowing and communication difficulties, so having access to these devices across multiple sites will make a significant difference to the care we can provide.

“The devices allow us to offer precise assessment and rehabilitation using objective measurement and biofeedback, which greatly improves patient engagement and outcomes.

“We are extremely grateful to our local communities. It’s your generosity which enables us to deliver more high‑quality and innovative care to people across Hywel Dda.”

Nicola Llewelyn, Head of Hywel Dda Health Charities, said: “We are delighted to fund this important development for Speech and Language Therapy services.

“The funding has come from our all-purpose fund, Making a Difference, which supports the areas of greatest need across Hywel Dda.”