{"title":"Waiting list management: Professionals’ perspectives and innovations","authors":"N. McGill, S. Mcleod, Suzanne C. Hopf","doi":"10.3233/acs-210026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/acs-210026","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND: Waiting lists for speech and language therapy exist when services do not meet demand. Waiting lists pose practical and ethical challenges for speech and language therapists (SLTs) and workplaces to manage, with potential flow on effects for children and families. OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to describe SLTs’ perspectives about waiting lists for children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) and explore waiting list management strategies. METHODS: The present study reports on 187 SLTs’ written responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire. SLTs were from nine countries, had an average of 12 years’ experience in the profession (range 0.2–45 years), and either currently or had previously worked with children. Data were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis. RESULTS: SLTs’ feelings about their waiting lists centred on three themes: (1) negative (e.g., “overwhelmed”, “stressed”, “anxious”, “embarrassed”); (2) neutral (e.g., “not too bad”, “okay”); and (3) positive (e.g., “manageable”, “proud”). Four themes related to waiting list management: (1) SLT service delivery (e.g., triage, use of technology in service provision); (2) workplace processes and policies (e.g., eligibility criteria, prioritisation); (3) SLT workforce actions (e.g., recruitment and retention of skilled SLTs); and (4) inaction (e.g., waiting list management was “out of my hands”). CONCLUSIONS: Waiting lists can have negative consequences and many SLTs take action to manage waiting lists; however, waiting list management strategies are not necessarily effective which can impact children’s outcomes. There is a need to reimagine service delivery and identify effective actions for managing speech and language therapy waiting lists at a local and systemic level in order to optimise outcomes for children and families.","PeriodicalId":93726,"journal":{"name":"Advances in communication and swallowing","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"85246820","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An exploration of lexical selection in adults who stutter","authors":"A. Lee, G. O'Beirne, M. Robb","doi":"10.3233/acs-210023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/acs-210023","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: People who stutter (PWS) are able to anticipate a moment of stuttering. We wished to explore whether this anticipation might be reflected by either unusual word choice and/or delayed word production during a single-word confrontation naming task. METHOD: Nine PWS and nine age- and sex-matched fluent controls completed the single-word confrontation-naming task. Groups were compared on numbers of word-finding and fluency errors, response latency, and naming accuracy, measured against a novel ‘usuality’ criterion. Regression modelling of response accuracy and latency was conducted. RESULTS: The groups did not differ on naming task performance, except for a greater frequency of response latency errors in the PWS group. For both groups, responses containing word-finding or fluency errors were more likely to be non-usual names, and these were associated with longer latencies than accurate responses. For PWS, latency was positively related to participant age, and accuracy inversely related to stuttering severity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide insights into word substitution as a generalized behaviour, its function, and associated time-cost. Group-specific relationships imply greater sensitivity in PWS to changing demands and capacities, and highlight the complexity of interactions between physical stuttering behaviour and verbal avoidance.","PeriodicalId":93726,"journal":{"name":"Advances in communication and swallowing","volume":"21 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80016467","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cluttering framed: An historical overview","authors":"J. Duchan, S. Felsenfeld","doi":"10.3233/acs-210029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3233/acs-210029","url":null,"abstract":"BACKGROUND: Cluttering has been described in the literature on speech disorders for over 300 years. Despite this, it remains a poorly understood condition whose history has not been analyzed as a whole to identify common themes and underlying frameworks. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this review is to identify thematic questions and frameworks contained within the literature on cluttering since the earliest found reference in 1717. METHODS: Information from influential historical and contemporary documents were analyzed. Particular attention was paid to the types of questions, both implicit and explicit, that were posed in these materials. This information was ultimately organized into five thematic strands, presented here in the form of key questions. RESULTS: Five questions were derived from our historical analysis: (1) What should the problem be called? (2) What kind of problem is it? (3) What are its defining features? (4) What are its causes? and (5) How should it be treated? The first four questions are discussed in this review. The fifth question will be addressed in a forthcoming paper. CONCLUSIONS: Consensus has been achieved on what to call the disorder (cluttering) and in what domain it should be placed (fluency). Less agreement exists regarding its defining features, causes, and treatment. We propose that alternative conceptual frameworks may be useful in breaking new ground in our understanding and management of this complex condition.","PeriodicalId":93726,"journal":{"name":"Advances in communication and swallowing","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"76580269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
John P Ziegler, Kate Davidson, Rebecca L Cooper, Kendrea L Garand, Shaun A Nguyen, Erick Yuen, Bonnie Martin-Harris, Ashli K O'Rourke
{"title":"Characterization of dysphagia following anterior cervical spine surgery.","authors":"John P Ziegler, Kate Davidson, Rebecca L Cooper, Kendrea L Garand, Shaun A Nguyen, Erick Yuen, Bonnie Martin-Harris, Ashli K O'Rourke","doi":"10.3233/acs-210034","DOIUrl":"10.3233/acs-210034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Post-operative dysphagia is one of the most common complications of anterior cervical spine surgery (ACSS).</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>Examine post-operative structural and physiologic swallowing changes in patients with dysphagia following ACSS as compared with healthy age and gender matched controls.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Videofluoroscopic swallow studies of adults with dysphagia after ACSS were retrospectively reviewed. Seventy-five patients were divided into early (≤2 months) and late (> 2 months) post-surgical groups. Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile (MBSImP), Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS) scores, and pharyngeal wall thickness (PWT) metrics were compared.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Significant differences were identified for all parameters between the control and early post-operative group. MBSImP Pharyngeal Total (PT) scores were greater in the early group (Interquartile Range (IQR) = 9-14, median = 12) versus controls (4-7, 5, <i>P</i> < 0.001) and late group (0.75-7.25, 2, <i>P</i> < 0.001). The early group had significantly higher maximum PAS scores (IQR = 3-8, median = 7) than both the control group (1-2, 1, <i>P</i> < 0.001) and late post-operative group (1-1.25, 1, <i>P</i> < 0.001). PWT was significantly greater in the early (IQR = 11.12-17.33 mm, median = 14.32 mm) and late groups (5.31-13.01, 9.15 mm) than controls (3.81-5.41, 4.68 mm, <i>P</i> < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Dysphagic complaints can persist more than two months following ACSS, but often do not correlate with validated physiologic swallowing dysfunction on VFSS. Future studies should focus on applications of newer technology to elucidate relevant deficits.</p>","PeriodicalId":93726,"journal":{"name":"Advances in communication and swallowing","volume":"24 1","pages":"55-62"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9703912/pdf/nihms-1850122.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40711931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}