< Terug naar vorige pagina

Project

One size does not fit all: naar diagnose-specifieke spraaktherapie in de Vlaamse logopedische praktijk bij kinderen met een gespleten verhemelte

With an incidence of approximately 1/700 live births, a cleft (lip and) palate (CP±L) is the most common congenital malformation. From birth on, a CP±L may impact hearing, feeding, oromyofunctional behavior and dentition, satisfaction with appearance, and speech. Considering these consequences, it is not surprising that a CP±L may have a major influence on a child’s general (social) functioning and psychosocial well-being. Speech is one of the primary outcomes in the treatment of children with a CP±L since cleft-related speech disorders may severely impact speech intelligbility and quality of life. Unfortunately, there is a lack of research to support evidence-based speech intervention in children with a CP±L. A qualitative study that I conducted, revealed that many speech therapists use a common ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to treat cleft-related compensatory speech disorders (CSDs). This common approach often includes ineffective intervention strategies which is problematic for the quality of first-line cleft speech services in Flanders. The first-line SLPs expressed an urgent need for diagnosis-specific intervention guidelines. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate which intervention works best for a particular patient with a specific type of CSD. This proposal will address this matter. The first objective is to compare the effect of different speech therapy approaches on the speech and quality of life in children with different types of CSDs. A longitudinal randomized sham-controlled trial will be used. For health care to be truly evidence-based, there needs to be an integration of the best available research evidence with the perspectives of the health practitioners and the patients. Therefore, the second objective is to assess the anticipated and experienced acceptability of the diagnosis-specific intervention programs used in objective 1 from respectively the perspective of intervention delivers (first-line SLPs) and caregivers of intervention recipients (caregivers of children with a CP±L). Focus group discussions will be used which is unique and innovative in the cleft palate literature. Based on these focus groups, adaptations can be made to the diagnosis-specific intervention programs. Integration of the stakeholders’ perspectives will facilitate the eventual implementation of these intervention programs in Flemish primary cleft speech services. Diagnosis-specific intervention will not only increase the quality of our services but will also enhance patient-tailored and personalized intervention and thus, patients’ and family’s quality of life. In addition, more effective intervention will also be more cost-effective. During longer-term funding, international collaborations will eventually allow for an implementation of the findings in primary cleft speech services across the world.

Datum:1 okt 2022 →  30 sep 2023
Trefwoorden:Schisis, kwalitatief onderzoek, evidence-based practice
Disciplines:Spraak- en taaltherapie