Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: to describe the speech therapy aspects of patients treated by the palliative care team in a hospital. Methods: an observational and cross-sectional study, performed from medical records of patients treated under Palliative Care Program, in a hospital, from July to September 2018. Information from the anamnesis and speech-language assessments, which were analyzed by frequency measures, were collected. Results: the sample was composed by 41 medical records, including 25 males and 16 females, with an average age of 61.2 years and hospitalization average time of 20.7 days. Oral feeding was present in 73% of the sample. It was observed that 24% of the patients had impaired expressive language, 56% had reduced maximum phonation times and 34% showed altered mobility phonoarticulatory organs. For swallowing, 22% showed difficulty in some consistency. A nutritional feeding was verified in 74% of the sample and the remaining was making use of comfort feeding. In relation to assistance, 46% of the sample was under management, 7% in therapy, and the remaining did not have follow-up indication. Conclusion: relevant alterations to orofacial motricity, voice, language and swallowing were found in patients under palliative care.
Highlights
Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach, including the family and the use of the community resources available[1]
Forty-one medical records of palliative care patients treated by the speech therapy team were analyzed
Regarding complaint data related to speechlanguage pathology, during the anamnesis, this type of complaint was observed in 24 (59%) of the patients or mentioned by their relatives, often being related to difficulty communicating, inappetence, and symptoms of risk for dysphagia
Summary
Effective palliative care requires a broad multidisciplinary approach, including the family and the use of the community resources available[1]. Offering a multidisciplinary approach to focus on the needs of patients and their families is a way of taking a comprehensive look at ill individuals, valuing and paying attention to each one of their facets, so that, ideally, the best therapeutic approach can be established[3] In this context, the speech therapist acts preventively, treating and helping on the management of symptoms related to feeding and communication[4]. The speech therapist acts preventively, treating and helping on the management of symptoms related to feeding and communication[4] In dysphagia cases, they can collaborate in the decision making along with other team members regarding the use, or not, of an alternative method of feeding, when the oral ingestion is not safe. Speech therapy has a key role, because deglutition and communication disorders make great impact in the quality of life of patients and their families[4]
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