Communication disability in Fiji: Community self-help and help-seeking support

To understand how a Fijian community supports people with communication disability (PWCD) and whether their support is associated with participant demographics.

Thematic analysis of 144 questionnaires that asked about participants' actions to support a fictional child and adult with communication disability.

Participant responses fell into two categories: what they would do directly (self-help) and people and places where they would seek assistance (help-seeking). Self-help behaviours included: making a change to their own communication style or mode; trying to change their own and others' behaviour; teaching new skills; praying; changing the physical environment; seeking information independently; assessing or observing; and, using traditional medicine, western medicine, or traditional belief practices. Help-seeking behaviours included seeking help from: other community members; education professionals; a professional in another country; spiritual leaders; traditional belief practitioners; traditional medicine practitioners; western health care practitioners; or, an alternative provider (e.g. home, orphanage, nursing home). Younger participants and those of iTaukei Fijian ethnicity were more likely to seek help from other community members.

This Fijian community actively supports people with communication disability within available networks. Development of speech-language pathology services for people with communication disability living in similar communities should harness the informal knowledge within these networks.