AAC users and nursing staff’s thoughts and perceptions of current AAC training with content considerations for future training interventions

Paterson, Helen, Jayes, Mark ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0371-7811, Lancaster, John and Murray, Janice ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8809-4256 (2023) AAC users and nursing staff’s thoughts and perceptions of current AAC training with content considerations for future training interventions. In: CM2022 International AAC Conference, 11 September 2022 – 13 September 2022, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.

Preview

Published Version Available under License In Copyright. Download (523kB) | Preview

Abstract

As life expectancy increases, more adults are living with conditions affecting their communication, and many of these will reside within care settings such as hospitals or long-term care, cared for by nurses and health care assistants (HCAs). The current workload and role of a nurse or HCA is complex and busy, and when caring for a patient who is also an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) user, they need additional skills and knowledge to be an effective communication partner. Nursing staff also need to undertake the various tasks that an AAC facilitator has to assume, such as high-tech AAC system maintenance - updating software, battery charging, cleaning as well as liaising with companies or therapists for help (Beukelman et al., 2008). Research has identified difficult and distressing experiences of AAC users within hospitals, and nurses have reported feeling frustrated when caring for AAC users due to a lack of knowledge about AAC e.g. Hemsley et al. (2011). Many barriers to implementing AAC, particularly in hospital settings have been identified, including a lack of staff knowledge and skills (Gormley and Light, 2019). The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on communication function has escalated the need for communication aids and subsequently a nurse’s need for awareness of alternative and supportive communication tools and strategies (Altschuler, 2021). Training nursing staff in inpatient settings is complicated by a need to train a large number of healthcare workers on overlapping shift work patterns, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Globally, nurses and AAC users are diverse culturally and linguistically, and training needs to ensure these factors are considered. In terms of opportunities to support nursing staff, recent research by Barnard et al. (2021) found that most interactions between speech and language therapists (SLTs) and nurses were punctuated by interruptions to the conversations in which SLTs seized moments in between nursing tasks to explain communication needs and strategies. Compounding these factors, we have a limited research-evidence-base for how we train our nursing colleagues. To meet the demands of the healthcare setting, clinicians and researchers are challenged with the task of developing and evaluating innovative, flexible communication supports and communication partner training (Altschuler et al., 2021). This article explores current research and practice in this area and describes a research study exploring nurses’ and AAC users’ views about current and future training.