Bárbara Costa Beber, PhD
Speech & Language Pathologist
If we improve communication among people with dementia and their loved ones, we can improve their quality of life.
Current Work
Bárbara is an associate professor of the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences Department at the Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre. She is committed to improving the training of speech and language therapists from Brazil to work in dementia.
Words of Strength
Making things happen
Vision
To reduce the scale and impact of dementia, Bárbara believes we need to promote education about brain health and feasible solutions to be used in low- and middle-income countries.
Strategy
Bárbara is training speech and language therapists in Brazil to intervene in communication disorders due to dementia. Communication is an important skill to keep our social life. She believes if we improve communication among people with dementia and their loved ones, we can improve their quality of life.
Impact
As an Atlantic Fellow, Bárbara has learned important leadership skills to put into practice her projects. The fellowship gave her the confidence that she can achieve her goals to reduce the impact of dementia in her community.
Motivation
People with dementia present communication difficulties that can negatively impact their quality of life. Brazil has about forty thousand speech and language therapists that may help to improve communication in this population.
Education & Experience
Bárbara Costa Beber received her speech and language therapy training and her master's degree from the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil. She completed her PhD at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and did part of her PhD research in the Memory and Aging Center of the University of California, San Francisco. In 2017, after her fellowship at the GBHI (in Ireland) she joined the speech, language and hearing sciences department of the Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre as an associate professor.
Awards & Honors
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