Cohort 
2016

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.

Featured Publications