Ombrelo involved in the KieLo – SpråkLek research project

KieLo-SpråkLek research project aims to create an early rehabilitation model in which families are guided in groups. Support for language development is offered in both Finnish and Swedish. The project is funded by Kela, and partners include the University of Eastern Finland, Åbo Akademi, the Finnish Brain Association, as well as speech and language therapists and public health nurses from public healthcare. The originator of the research project idea is speech and language therapist and founder of Sanapolku Oy, Anu Martikainen.

“After receiving the funding decision from Kela, I wanted to invite Nina, the founder of ombrelo, to join the project working group. I knew her company employs several speech and language therapists, and our cooperation has been smooth in the past,” Anu explains.

Finland needs more speech and language therapists

The number of speech and language therapists in Finland is insufficient for the current demand for therapy, and children often have to wait to access services. Speech and language development challenges can already be identified in children as young as one year old, and these difficulties can worsen while waiting for therapy. The early rehabilitation model aims to find ways to support families so they can do their best to foster their child’s language development.

“The Esikko assessment carried out at child health clinics is a simple way to evaluate a child’s prelinguistic skills. It can help identify possible language development challenges and intervene early. Providing parents with concrete support measures and embedding them into everyday situations promotes the child’s language development in the desired direction,” Anu clarifies.

The key focus is specifically on everyday family situations, which, as the name suggests, are repeated day after day, week after week. When language-supporting activities are embedded into these recurring situations, repetitions accumulate almost without notice, and the child receives the support they need. Peer support for parents is also important, and has already received positive feedback in previous projects. To support the KieLo-SpråkLek project, an online platform will be created, offering information for parents and a discussion forum where families in similar situations can share their experiences.

The project brings together enthusiastic developers in the speech and language therapy field

Group-based guidance is carried out in in-person, remote, and hybrid formats. This way, families’ geographical location does not limit their opportunity to participate. In-person groups are offered in Kuopio for Finnish-speaking families and in Pietarsaari for Swedish-speaking families. Hybrid groups operate in Lahti and Tampere. The project’s speech and language therapists are: Andrea Ojala, Annariikka Piiroinen, Cecilia Lövdahl, Heli Konola, Riitta Lehto, Roosa-Maria Veteläinen, Sari Nissinen, Sofia Lyttbacka, Sofia Sinimäki, Susanna Surakka, and Ulla Sergejeff. The project is led by Anu Martikainen, with Nina von Schantz as project coordinator and Tuulikki Savolainen as project assistant.

The target group of the research project is children born in June 2021, and the first groups will start in January 2023, when the children are 1.5 years old. There are six groups in total, four in Finnish and two in Swedish.