Welcome
SPEECH AND LANGUAGE THERAPY
ESLA is the umbrella organisation for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) associations across Europe. We currently have 37 member associations, representing over 40,000 SLT professionals.
ESLA’s strategic objectives are:
- Be the authoritative voice of Speech and Language Therapy in Europe,
- Increase recognition, promotion and protection of the profession,
- Ensure the sustainability of the organisation.
ESLA is the umbrella organisation for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) associations across Europe. We currently have 30 member associations, representing over 50,000 SLT professionals.
ESLA’s strategic objectives are operationalised through working groups known as Task Forces, each led by a member of the ESLA Board.
The Board
The members of the Board were elected during the General Assembly
held in Austria in May 2022, for a period of three years.
Norma Camilleri
- Malta -
Fofi Constantinidou
- Cyprus -
Ellianna Mantaka-Brinkmann
- Greece -
Nina Iordanova
- Bulgaria -
Blazenka Brozovic
- Croatia -
Sahra Mengal
- Denmark -
Raluca Trifu
- Romania -
Gianmatteo Farabolini
Theresa Bloder
Vision
European Speech and Language Therapy Association (ESLA) is the leading organisation representing the interests of the Speech and Language Therapy profession in Europe.
Mission
ESLA is the authoritative voice of the Speech and Language Therapy profession across Europe and supports the common interests of its member associations.
ESLA aims to increase the visibility and awareness of Speech Language Therapy in Europe and beyond, by actively promoting the profession and safeguarding professional and educational standards.
The voice of European Speech and Language Therapists
ESLA promotes the profile and reputation of the SLT profession to the European Commission, other relevant authorities and related organisations, by publishing statements and policies advocating the value of our services for people with communication and swallowing difficulties.
ESLA STATEMENT ON EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION (EDI)
The values and activities of ESLA are based on the principles of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights as stated in the
- United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms &
- Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
The members of ESLA are the national professional organizations of SLTs / orthophonistes / logopèdes / logopédistes meeting the criteria for membership set out in our Statutes. Each of these associations have their own Statutes and/or Statement of professional standards, incorporating a commitment to ethically based practice that promotes the values of equality, diversity and inclusion.
ESLA actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and specifically promotes equality of access to health, education and social care services for all the populations and communities with whom we work.
ESLA also promotes and protects the value of cultural diversity across the SLT professional membership, as being essential to most appropriately meet the needs of the increasingly diverse societies we serve.
As part of our commitment to advocacy, ESLA undertakes an annual campaign for raising public awareness of communication and swallowing difficulties and the role of Speech and Language Therapy.
SLT Professional Practice
ESLA supports the Speech and Language associations across Europe by promoting quality standards for professional practice that is both evidence-based and ethically-based. ESLA promotes continuing professional development opportunities for qualified practitioners to stay updated in their own field.
SLT Professional Education
SLT education reflects the scientific and interdisciplinary bases of the profession in medicine, education, linguistics and psychology. ESLA maintains updated information on the relevant statutory and legal requirements across Europe relating to standards in healthcare education and competency-based frameworks for assuring patient access to quality care.
SLT Clinical Practice
Speech and Language Therapists work with individuals of all ages, whose communication and/or swallowing difficulties arise from medical, cognitive, psychological, or social factors. The professional role includes direct intervention as well as providing training and advice for others; with the aim of supporting optimal development or recovery of skills and maximum independence for the individual.
SLT across Europe
ESLA promotes mobility of employment for SLTs across Europe, within the relevant regulatory and legal frameworks of all our member associations. ESLA actively advocates the SLT professional profile to the European Commission, other relevant authorities and related organisations.
NetQues
The Network for Tuning Standards and Quality of Education programmes “NetQues” was an important collaborative project of 65 partners, representing 27 European member states. The project addressed the challenge of ‘tuning’ the SLT professional education across Europe by defining benchmarks for best practice in teaching, learning and assessment. The project concluded in 2013 and the final report can be accessed here.
37
Member associations
34
Countries
40,000+
SLT Professionals
02
Languages | English and French
What's On
November 17 2024
ESLA Newsletter – November 2024Newsletter November 2024Welcome to our November 2024 newsletter! Welcome to an exciting new season! As we transition from the summer break, we are excited to embark on a new season filled with opportunities for growth, learning, and collaboration. This year promises to be an inspiring journey as we explore the latest advancements in speech […]
June 10 2024
ESLA SLT Manifesto 2024-2029European Speech and Language Therapists Manifesto 2024-2029
Read MoreMay 27 2024
ESLA Newsletter May 2024Newsletter May 2024Welcome to our May 2024 newsletter!Introducing ESLA Deputy Chair: Fofi Constantinidou Fofi specialises in neurorehabilitation research and treatment of adults with acquired language and cognitive disorders due to acquired brain injury (e.g., TBI, stroke), neurodegenerative conditions, and ageing. Her research team investigates brain-behaviour mechanisms in healthy and clinical populations as well as the neurophysiological […]
Read MoreMay 15 2024
Early intervention for deaf children – Prevention of language deprivationESLA Webinar SeriesESLA is delighted to launch our upcoming webinar held by one of the most relevant SLT scholar in her field, Ros Herman, Full Professor at the City University of London.She qualified initially as a Speech and Language Therapist (SLT) at Reading University, achieved her MSc in Human Communication at the University of London, […]
Read More