Person-centered care and speech and language therapy

Area of Science:

• Healthcare delivery
• Speech-language pathology
• Clinical education

Background:

• Person-centered care (PCC) is increasingly foundational in healthcare.
• PCC is linked to improved therapy outcomes, client satisfaction, and quality of care.
• Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are expected to integrate PCC into practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define PCC in the context of speech-language pathology.
• To investigate the utilization of PCC by student SLP clinicians.
• To explore factors influencing PCC adoption in clinical training.

Main Methods:

• A pilot study was conducted with student SLP clinicians.
• The study tracked the use of PCC during therapeutic interactions.
• Data was collected as student clinicians gained experience.

Main Results:

• No significant increase in PCC use was observed as student clinicians progressed.
• Current clinical supervision and grading methods may impede PCC implementation.
• Student SLPs' tendency towards structured, task-oriented therapy persisted.

Conclusions:

• Clinical supervision and grading practices require re-evaluation to foster PCC.
• Further research is needed to optimize training for PCC in speech-language pathology.
• Enhancing PCC integration is vital for evidence-based and client-centered SLP services.