Palliative Care Unit, School of Psychology and Public Health, College of Science, Health and Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Speech Pathology Department, Cabrini Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
BMJ Support Palliat Care. 2020 Dec;10(4):e43. doi: 10.1136/bmjspcare-2018-001667. Epub 2018 Nov 15.
Given the dearth of literature and no clinical practice guidelines written for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) working in paediatric palliative care (PPC), a need has been identified to explore the scope of clinical practice and strategies used by SLPs.
This study aims to undertake an international investigation into the role and scope of practice of SLPs working in PPC to develop consensus-driven 'Recommendations for Speech-Language Pathologists in Paediatric Palliative Care Teams' (ReSPCT).
A modified Delphi process will be used to synthesise consensus-based statements from SLPs in six different countries about their role and practice working in PPC. Initially, preliminary survey data will be collected from SLPs to obtain demographic and caseload information. Respondents will then be invited to participate in an in-depth interview to explore common and unique themes that emerge from the online survey. Participants from the interview will then 'opt-in' to become Delphi panel members and receive questionnaires comprising statements for agreement over multiple rounds. Statements will be based on common themes that arise from the literature review, survey and interview data. The Delphi process for each statement will stop if statements achieve ≥ 70 % agreement and an IQR of ≤ 1 (maximum of five rounds).
This is the first study to investigate the role and practice of SLPs in PPC across internationally accepted scope of practice areas. The study will use existing frameworks for statistical analysis and a mixed-methods approach to aid in the synthesis of statements/recommendations for international consensus.
鉴于文献匮乏，且尚无针对从事儿科姑息治疗（PPC）的言语治疗师（SLP）的临床实践指南，因此需要探索 SLP 在 PPC 中的临床实践范围和策略。
本研究旨在对从事 PPC 的 SLP 的角色和实践范围进行国际调查，以制定基于共识的“儿科姑息治疗团队中言语治疗师建议”（ReSPCT）。
将采用改良 Delphi 法，对来自六个不同国家的 SLP 关于其在 PPC 中角色和实践的共识性陈述进行综合。最初，将从 SLP 那里收集初步调查数据，以获取人口统计学和病例量信息。然后，将邀请受访者参加深入访谈，以探讨从在线调查中出现的常见和独特主题。来自访谈的参与者将“选择加入”成为 Delphi 小组的成员，并收到包含多个回合的同意声明的问卷。陈述将基于文献综述、调查和访谈数据中出现的共同主题。如果陈述达到≥70%的一致性和≤1 的 IQR（最多 5 轮），则将停止对每个陈述的 Delphi 流程。
这是第一项针对国际公认的实践范围调查 SLP 在 PPC 中的角色和实践的研究。该研究将使用现有的统计分析框架和混合方法来帮助综合陈述/建议，以达成国际共识。
