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Introduction of a speech-language pathology assistant role for swallow screening in a head and neck radiotherapy clinic.
- Source :
- International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology; Aug2021, Vol. 23 Issue 4, p441-451, 11p, 3 Diagrams, 2 Charts, 1 Graph
- Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Optimal care suggests that all moderate-high risk head and neck (H&N) cancer patients should receive speech pathology assessment, education and management when commencing radiotherapy. However this is not always feasible due to high patient numbers and limited staffing. The aim of this study was to investigate the implementation of a speech-language pathology assistant (SLP-A) role for swallowing screening and education in a multidisciplinary H&N treatment clinic. A detailed model of care and training module were developed to up-skill the SLP-A in the screening and education to be undertaken. A pre-test post-test design compared outcomes in two separate groups prior to and following SLP-A role implementation. Outcomes included: optimal care compliance, speech-language pathology time spent with complex patients, swallowing-related admissions and patient satisfaction. Twenty-six patients were included pre-implementation and 35 post-implementation, with 16 (46%) patients receiving SLP-A screening/education post-implementation. The proportion of eligible patients seen by speech-language pathology pre-implementation was 62%, compared to 94% seen by speech-language pathology or SLP-A post-implementation (p = 0.002). There was a (non-significant) increase in speech-language pathology time spent with complex patients post-implementation (total minutes per patient: mean 252, SD = 144 vs. 279, SD = 115). There was no increase in swallowing-related admissions, and a (non-significant) increase in patient satisfaction post-implementation, indicating no compromise to patient safety or satisfaction. Implementing a speech-language pathology assistant role for screening patients within the H&N treatment clinic allowed delivery of optimal care and increased time for speech-language pathologists to spend with complex patients, without compromising patient safety or satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- OCCUPATIONAL roles
HEAD tumors
DEGLUTITION disorders
MEDICAL screening
PATIENTS
PATIENT satisfaction
FISHER exact test
MANN Whitney U Test
CANCER patients
PRE-tests & post-tests
HOSPITAL admission & discharge
HEALTH care teams
DESCRIPTIVE statistics
CHI-squared test
STATISTICAL hypothesis testing
PATIENT education
PATIENT compliance
DATA analysis software
SPEECH-language pathology assistants
NECK tumors
CANCER patient medical care
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 17549507
- Volume :
- 23
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 151486401
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2020.1800818