Developing a Culture of Successful Communication in Acute Care Settings: Part I. Solving Patient-Specific Issues.
Sarah Marshall, Richard R Hurtig
PMID 32478169WHAT IT FOUND
No finding to act on.
This hospital service description and case series about communication supports for inpatients reports no study method or measured patient outcome.
What this paper is
This is a hospital service description and case series from one health system. It explains how speech-language pathology and occupational therapy teams used communication aids, including a bedside nurse-call and speech-generating tablet, for patients with severe communication difficulties. It describes barriers, problem solving, and rising consult volumes, but it does not report a defined study method, comparison, or measured patient outcome, so there is no finding to act on.
Declared interests
The article reports a partnership with Voxello and says the hospital is a test site in an ongoing clinical trial of Voxello technology. No separate conflict-of-interest declaration is provided.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat the described cases as proof that the communication device improves patient outcomes. The article reports no measured outcome or comparison.