speech therapist

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to identify common clinical practices and experiences of voice therapists regarding the treatment of pediatric vocal fold nodules (VFNs) in Flanders, Belgium. STUDY DESIGN: Observational survey study. METHODS: A 38-item online survey was completed by 35 voice therapists (32 females, 3 males) with experience in treating pediatric VFNs. Demographic characteristics, occupational characteristics, educational characteristics, therapy content, therapy delivery model, and experience of the voice therapist were explored...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to adapt the Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) protocol for perceptual voice assessment to the French language. The primary objective was to achieve consensus among an international panel of voice experts on the content of the adapted protocol. METHODS: To ensure the relevance and robustness of the French CAPE-V protocol, this study employed a systematic Delphi method and involved an international panel primarily comprising speech therapists and lecturers from France and Belgium...

The number of tracheotomized patients with dysphagia and their need for treatment are continuously increasing in clinical and community settings. The revised version of the directive on home care and community-based intensive care of the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) requires that tracheotomized patients are regularly evaluated with the aim of identifying and promoting the therapeutic potential after hospital discharge. Dysphagia treatment plays a crucial role as without improvement of severe dysphagia there is practically no possibility for decannulation...

BACKGROUND:  There are no definitive guidelines for clinical decisions for children with cerebral palsy (CP) requiring enteral feeds. Traditionally, medical doctors made enteral feeding decisions, while patients were essentially treated passively within a paternalistic 'doctor knows best' approach. Although a more collaborative approach to decision-making has been promoted globally as the favoured model among healthcare professionals, little is known about how these decisions are currently made practically...

BACKGROUND:  Oral feeding practices of young patients on high-flow oxygen (HFO2) have been controversial. Limited literature exists on this topic, but new studies suggest introducing oral feeds. OBJECTIVE:  This study aims to describe the changes in swallowing and feeding of a group of young children on HFO2. METHOD:  Twelve participants (mean age 34.17 months [s.d. = 3.97]) on HFO2 were assessed clinically at the bedside using the Schedule of Oral Motor Assessment...

BACKGROUND:  Unavailability of healthcare resources can lead to poor patient outcomes. The latter is true for infants with hearing loss and require early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI). AIM:  To determine the availability and distribution of resources for EHDI in state hospitals in the Eastern Cape (EC) province, South Africa. SETTING:  Sixteen state hospitals (nine district, four regional and three tertiary hospitals)...

BACKGROUND:  Nurses are often required to perform dysphagia screening prior to oral intake by people following stroke. Previous studies report limited knowledge of nurses in identifying symptoms of post-stroke dysphagia. OBJECTIVE:  To explore existing literature regarding nurses' practices and knowledge in the identification and management of post-stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) in low- and middle income countries (LMICs). METHOD:  A scoping review was conducted according to the PRISMA-ScR guidelines...

Background Cognitive rehabilitation of people with traumatic brain injury is a complex and challenging area of practice. Practitioners working in cognitive rehabilitation require ongoing training to stay abreast of new research and best practice interventions. A needs analysis was conducted to inform the development of a capacity building program for cognitive rehabilitation providers. Methods A cross-sectional online survey of providers of cognitive rehabilitation services in Queensland collected data on demographic information, perceptions of knowledge, skills and confidence in cognitive rehabilitation, previously completed training, desired training opportunities and delivery methods, and barriers and facilitators to engaging in training...

Progressive bulbar involvement is frequent in spinal muscular atrophy, with prevalence and severity of deficits associated with type. The report provides an overview of the presentations made at the workshop grouped into 4 sessions: the first section was dedicated to videofluoroscopy with a revision of the existing protocols and discussion on which one should be used in routine clinical practice and in research settings. The second session was dedicated to interprofessional routine assessments of bulbar function, with a review of the recent clinical tools specifically developed for SMA...

Speech-language therapists/pathologists (SLT/Ps) are key professionals in the management and treatment of primary progressive aphasia (PPA), however, there are gaps in education and training within the discipline, with implications for skills, confidence, and clinical decision-making. This survey aimed to explore the areas of need amongst SLT/Ps working with people living with PPA (PwPPA) internationally to upskill the current and future workforce working with progressive communication disorders. One hundred eighty-five SLT/Ps from 27 countries who work with PwPPA participated in an anonymous online survey about their educational and clinical experiences, clinical decision-making, and self-reported areas of need when working with this population...

BACKGROUND: Assessment tools that assess pragmatic skills in adults with a mild-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) are hard to access, not person-centred and have a high risk of clinician bias. The Pragmatics Profile is an informant report tool that was originally designed to assess pragmatic skills in people with a developmental disability. AIMS: The aim of this study was to seek consensus from a panel of experts and create a version of the Pragmatics Profile for the TBI population...

We aim to use topic modeling, an approach for discovering clusters of related words ("topics"), to predict symptom severity and therapeutic alliance in psychotherapy transcripts, while also identifying the most important topics and overarching themes for prediction. We analyzed 552 psychotherapy transcripts from 124 patients. Using BERTopic (Grootendorst, 2022), we extracted 250 topics each for patient and therapist speech. These topics were used to predict symptom severity and alliance with various competing machine-learning methods...

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic healthcare professionals in the multiprofessional intensive care unit (ICU) team are important for early mobilization, dysphagia therapy, and psychosocial care of critically ill patients. OBJECTIVE: Despite the high relevance of therapeutic healthcare professions for care in ICUs, there are no recommendations on the specific staffing of therapists in ICUs. RESULTS: Considering the main areas of activity of the individual professional groups and based on productivity time, a requirements analysis for staffing ICUs of different care levels with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and psychologists was performed...

BACKGROUND: In Swiss intensive care units (ICUs), nutritional management is hardly or not at all supported or supervised by dietitians. Nutritional management in the ICU is mainly performed by ICU nursing staff and intensive care specialists. In 2022, the role of an advanced practice dietitian (APD) was newly defined, created, and implemented in a Swiss ICU as part of a pilot project. In contrast to other countries, APDs are still scarce in Switzerland. Evaluation of the APD role is essential to further define the position and adapt it to needs...

BACKGROUND: Treatment for head and neck cancer (HNC) can lead to profound changes in swallowing function and nutrition. UK HNC standards recommend informational counselling is provided pre-treatment by the dietitian and speech and language therapist (SLT). Non-english speaking patients treated in English speaking countries have poorer treatment outcomes. UK guidance recommends all patients should have access to interpretation services where required. This audit aimed to investigate the language needs and utilisation of interpretation services for patients with HNC attending pre-treatment clinics...

PURPOSE: To seek evidence of validity and reliability for the Compressed Speech Test with Figures. METHODS: The study was subdivided into three stages: construct validation, criteria and reliability. All participants were aged between 6:00 and 8:11. For the construct, Compressed Speech with Figures and the gold standard Adapted Compressed Speech test were applied to children with typical phonological development. For criterion analysis, Compressed Speech with Figures was applied in two groups, with typical (G1) and atypical (G2) phonological development...

BACKGROUND: Up to 50% of people in low- and middle-income countries do not receive the rehabilitation they require. Telerehabilitation has the potential to improve access to neurorehabilitation services especially in low- and middle-income countries. Although there are reports of the barriers and facilitators to telerehabilitation in such settings, almost all are anecdotal. Furthermore, family or carers have a significant influence on the adoption and success of telerehabilitation, but their views have not been reported...

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to describe the factors that affect the normal dental development of preschool children in Latvia, and to investigate sources that mothers use to get information on children's oral health. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was performed in two kindergartens in Latvia (cluster sampling). The study sample comprised 141 child-mother pairs of preschool children aged 4-7 years. The dental situation of all children was assessed including evaluation by an orthodontist and a speech therapist, and mothers of children filled out the survey on oral health-related habits and information about it...

BACKGROUND: Swallowing impairment (dysphagia) and tracheostomy coexist. Research in this area has often provided an overview of dysphagia management as a whole, but there is limited information pertaining to specific dysphagia therapy in the tracheostomy population. The aim of this scoping review is to provide a detailed exploration of the literature with regard to dysphagia therapeutic interventions in adults with a tracheostomy. The scoping review will describe current evidence and thus facilitate future discussions to guide clinical practice...

BACKGROUND: Limited information exists on autistic service access and costs in Italy. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate access to educational, healthcare, social, and related services for autistic individuals in Italy as part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union (ASDEU) project. METHODS: Italian carers of autistic individuals completed an online survey regarding services and costs in the 6 months before completion...