SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS最新文献

Untreated conductive and mixed hearing losses as a result of middle ear pathology or congenital ear malformations can lead to poor speech, language and academic outcomes in children. Lack of access to centralised hearing healthcare in resource-constrained environments limits opportunities for children with hearing loss. Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital (RCWMCH) is one of only two dedicated paediatric hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa. Between 2016 and 2021, 29 children received implanted bone conduction hearing devices, and 104 children were fitted with bone conduction devices on softbands. The authors' experience at RCWMCH suggests that bone-anchored hearing devices, either fitted on softbands or on implanted abutments, can provide solutions in settings where patients have limited access to hearing healthcare and optimal classroom environments. Hearing healthcare should be accessible and delivered at the appropriate level of care to mitigate the adverse effects of hearing loss in children.Contribution: This article describes strategies employed at RCWMCH such as fitting bone conduction hearing devices on a softband immediately after hearing loss diagnosis and conducting follow-up via remote technology to make hearing healthcare more accessible to vulnerable populations.

Background:  Many caregivers from low-middle income (LMI) households consider that preschool children are too young for shared book reading. Thus, many caregivers are unaware of their potentially powerful role in their children's emergent literacy and communication.

Objectives:  To describe (1) caregivers' perceptions of shared reading, (2) caregivers' perceptions of barriers to shared reading and (3) changes in these perceptions following a short intervention.

Method:  A qualitative methodology was used to understand the perceptions of 40 caregivers from a semi-rural South African township. Two semi-structured interviews were conducted before and after intervention. The intervention was a short training video about shared reading.

Results:  Caregivers described the unfamiliar reading culture and viewed reading as an educational activity that they knew little about. Barriers to shared reading included lack of time, few reading materials and low levels of literacy or lack of exposure to this type of activity. Following the intervention, they acknowledged the importance of shared reading, described growing confidence in their shared reading abilities and closer relationships with their children.

Conclusion:  Speech-language therapists (SLTs) have a pivotal role to play in caregiver training of emergent literacy skills and can make a marked impact in guiding caregivers' shared reading. A short video-based intervention can alter caregiver perceptions and practices, which may be the first step in changing behaviours.Contribution: The study provides an example of a simple and cost-effective intervention that changed caregiver perception and caregivers' reported shared reading practice.

No abstract available.

No abstract available.

Background:  Studies related to tube feeding in people with dementia (PWD) remain a contested topic, neglecting the importance of speech-language therapists' (SLTs) role in dysphagia management. Furthermore, SLT practices and beliefs regarding tube feeding in people with advanced dementia in an upper-middle-income country, such as South Africa, are unexplored.

Objective:  This study aimed to determine the practices and beliefs of SLTs in South Africa regarding tube feeding placement in PWD.

Method:  A self-compiled online survey was distributed using social media platforms and was completed by 83 South African SLTs with experience in swallowing and feeding management of PWD.

Results:  Most SLTs (78.8%) strongly believed they play a vital role in the decision-making regarding feeding tube insertion in PWD. This role is often met with several challenges, such as limited support from other healthcare professionals. Speech-language therapists with more experience and increased involvement in palliative care appeared to be more confident in supporting and counselling families of PWD on tube feeding. Many SLTs still recommend tube feeding despite its known negative consequences for PWD.

Conclusion:  The findings indicate a need for continued professional development for South African SLTs on feeding decisions in advanced dementia to increase knowledge and confidence in clinical practice. Speech-language therapists require guidelines by professional bodies and further dialogue amongst healthcare professionals to guide difficult feeding decisions in people with advanced dementia.

Background:  Whilst otoacoustic emission (OAE) testing has proved to be valuable in revealing information about cochlear outer hair cell integrity, it does not provide insight into the afferent and efferent pathways once the stimulus has reached neural receptors. This information can be obtained objectively through contralateral acoustic stimulation (CAS) suppression. However, obtaining normative data is essential in the implementation of such tests.

Objectives:  The primary aim was to undertake a small pilot study to collect the CAS suppression across a predefined frequency range in order to provide a preliminary normative data set to be used with the newly developed transient evoked otoacoustic emission (TEOAE)-CAS module (PATH MEDICAL, Germering, Germany). Secondary aims included the analysis of the relationships between left and right CAS suppression, between male and female CAS suppression and between TEOAE signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and CAS suppression.

Methods:  The purpose of this study was to determine preliminary normative data for contralateral TEOAE suppression from 40 normal ears of 20 healthy young adults (10 males and 10 females). Subjects were recruited using purposive sampling. The CAS suppression responses were obtained automatically by means of the data-collection protocol on the device used. From the data obtained, correlations between TEOAE SNR and CAS suppression were made using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Results:  The data were statistically processed to form a normative database which possesses the potential of serving as a basis for further research aimed at determining the utility of CAS suppression testing when evaluating ear pathology. A mean CAS suppression of 0.8 decibels (dB) (0.61 SD) was obtained. There was no statistically significant relationship between TEOAE SNR and CAS suppression. There was no significant suppression difference in terms of laterality of ears or gender.

Conclusion:  Normative values for CAS suppression of TEOAEs in a group of normal-hearing individuals were obtained using the newly developed TEOAE-CAS module (PATH MEDICAL, Germering, Germany). The availability of normative data for contralateral TEOAE suppression using the studied module allows for it to become commercially available, which will enable researchers and audiologists to perform this measurement in different populations in the evaluation of ear pathology.

Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) presented new and unanticipated challenges to the academic training and performance of clinical research at undergraduate and postgraduate levels of training. This highlighted the need for reimagining research designs and methods to ensure continued generation of knowledge - a core function of a research-intensive university. Whilst adhering to government regulations geared towards protecting both the research participants and researchers, innovative research methods are required.

Objective: The purpose of this scoping review is to explore published evidence on innovative clinical research methods and processes employed during COVID-19 and to document challenges encountered and lessons that the fields of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology can learn.

Methods: Electronic bibliographic databases including Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, MEDLINE, ProQuest were searched to identify peer-reviewed publications, published in English, between 2019 and 2021, related to innovative clinical research methods and processes applied where in-person contact is regulated.

Results: Significant challenges with conducting research in the COVID-19 era were identified, with important lessons learned and numerous opportunities that have relevance for this pandemic era and beyond. These findings are presented under 10 themes that emerged that highlight important considerations for research methods and processes during a pandemic and beyond. The findings of this study also raise implications for telehealth from which low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where resource challenges exist, can benefit.

Conclusion: Challenges and opportunities identified in this review have relevance for the field of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology as far as current and future (beyond COVID-19) clinical research planning is concerned.

No abstract available.

Background: Worldwide, preterm birth is a rising threat to maternal and child health. The universal challenges of being the mother of a preterm infant, combined with context-specific challenges such as poverty and poor linguistic and cultural representation, bring about risks for both mother and infant. This includes poor maternal mental health; poor mother-infant bonding and attachment and potential suboptimal developmental outcomes for the infant.

Objective: This article describes how Afrikaans-speaking mothers living in poverty experienced feeding their preterm infants in neonatal care.

Method: The study implemented a cross-sectional, qualitative design. Mothers of preterm infants (chronological ages between 3 and 6 months) were selected through a purposive sampling method and participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Nine interviews were thematically analysed. The participants were a vulnerable group, about whom little research literature was available.

Results: Feeding was perceived as a progressive task that worked towards the goal of discharge from the hospital. It was stressful because of various factors, but insufficient breastmilk supply was a significant contributor. The hospital setting was perceived as something that added to the participants' anxiety surrounding feeding, but at the same time, it had the potential to decrease their anxiety. When the mother-infant dyad was able to breastfeed successfully, it made the participants feel like mothers at last after an extended period of anticipation.

Conclusion: Feeding their preterm infant was a prominent experience for the mothers, especially whilst in neonatal care. Increased feeding support is required from the healthcare team providing neonatal care in order to optimally use the neonatal period.

Globally, falls are a serious economic and public health concern. While all age groups are impacted by falls, the threats to morbidity and mortality are most severe in older adults. Recent literature has linked hearing loss, and related issues such as an increase in sedentary behaviour, to a greater risk of falls. Therefore, this opinion article aims to raise audiologists' awareness of falls in ageing patients or clients, and calls for change in terms of having these rehabilitation professionals embrace identification and management of fall risk.