CONSTRUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE COMMUNICATION INSTRUMENT TO ACCESS BASIC EMOTIONS IN ICU PATIENTS

Abstract

Introduction: Patients under treatment in intensive care units (ICU) may have communicative restrictions caused by various factors such as tracheostomy, intubation, and muscle weakness. The use of alternative and augmentative communication resources (CAA) aims to break the existing communication barriers and enable the individual a way to express themselves. Objectives: To build non-verbal communication boards aiming to identify basic emotions in ICU patients and evaluate their contribution and effectiveness when used with patients in speech deprivation conditions. Method: This is an exploratory study, with a quali-quantitative approach, divided into three stages: Step 1: Preliminary study, with the testing of stimuli representative of basic emotions, with a sample of 543 subjects. Step 2: Comparison of the presentation of the stimuli in the physical and digitized version involving a non-clinical population, composed of 60 individuals. Stage 3: case study with one participant, male, 65 years old, admitted to an ICU. Results: A board was developed containing 8 basic emotions and a neutral face and a board with a thermometer to measure the intensity of emotions. There were no significant differences in the application of the board in physical and virtual modality. In the application of the physical boards in participant of a ICU, this indicated that the boards contributed to the communication of their emotions. Conclusion: Considering the importance of the use of (AAC) and its implication in the mental health of the subject the boards were characterized as effective in the psychological care to the patient and emotional evaluation of the latter.