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Being heard - Supporting person-centred communication in paediatric care using augmentative and alternative
Gunilla Thunberg1,2,3, Ensa Johnson4, Juan Bornman4
1Dart Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication and Assistive Technology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Insights
Universal use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) supports person-centred care for all children. Pictorial supports in paediatric settings enhance communication for children with and without disabilities.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Communication
- Paediatric Care
- Assistive Technology
Background:
- Person-centred care emphasizes patient-practitioner partnership and effective communication.
- Communicative challenges are prevalent in paediatric populations due to developmental, illness, and disability factors.
- Universal design principles advocate for services usable by all individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To advocate for the universal implementation of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in paediatric settings.
- To demonstrate how AAC can support person-centred communication and care for children of all abilities.
- To explore the application of universal design principles in paediatric communication strategies.
Main Methods:
- A position paper arguing for universal AAC adoption.
- Presentation of clinical examples from three paediatric care settings utilizing pictorial supports universally.
- Qualitative data collection through interviews with children, adolescents, parents, and healthcare practitioners.
Main Results:
- Pictorial supports were successfully applied universally across diverse paediatric care environments.
- Interviews indicated that universal AAC strategies enhance person-centred communication.
- The principles of universal design provided a useful framework for assessing communication support.
Conclusions:
- Universal augmentative and alternative communication is essential for achieving person-centred care in paediatrics.
- Implementing universally designed communication aids benefits all children, irrespective of disability.
- Further integration of AAC and universal design principles can improve paediatric healthcare experiences.
Abstract:
Person-centred care, with its central focus on the patient in partnership with healthcare practitioners, is considered to be the contemporary gold standard of care. This type of care implies effective communication from and by both the patient and the healthcare practitioner. This is often problematic in the case of the paediatric population, because of the many communicative challenges that may arise due to the child's developmental level, illness and distress, linguistic competency and disabilities. The principle of universal design put forth in conventions and legislation means that the design of products and services should be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible. Augmentative and alternative communication encompasses strategies, for example pictures and apps, that are typically used with people with communication disability. In this position paper, we argue for the universal use of augmentative and alternative communication to support person-centred communication and care for children, regardless of age or potential disability. Clinical examples are shared from three different paediatric care settings where pictorial supports were applied universally. Interviews were conducted with children and adolescents (with and without disabilities), parents and healthcare practitioners, and the principles of universal design were used as a framework to demonstrate how person-centred communication is supported in paediatric care.
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