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Dysphagia following intubation during the COVID-19 pandemic

Dysphagia is a known sequela of mechanical ventilation and intubation. About a third of patients discharged from hospital after acute respiratory distress syndrome present with dysphagia. The authors of this review have considered the implications for patients intubated due to...

Virtual human speaker

The aim of the discussed study was to develop and evaluate a 3D virtual speaker that could use pre-recorded audio-material and possibly be used for audio-visual speech testing in the future. The authors developed the terminal-analogue method that allows to...

Who finds it hard to swallow?

Early identification of dysphagia in inpatients on acute stroke wards has been recommended as best practice guidelines in many countries. However, several institutions fail to use formal dysphagia screening protocols and rely on informal detection by nurses and doctors. This...

Better conversations for children with Autism and peers for now and for their futures

There are around 700,000 people with diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the UK, according to 2011 census figures. A key diagnostic feature in ASD are difficulties in social interactions and conversations, social-emotional responses and relationships. The authors of this...

More difficult than meets the eye: learning to use communication skills

People with communication difficulties are more at risk of accidents and mistreatments than others. Addressing the skills of the communication partners (the medical professionals) is one way of tackling this issue. This study describes innovations in training for fourth year...

How can disabled children communicate more during family leisure time?

This article aims to provide guidance on how to integrate alternative augmentative communication (AAC) use into family leisure time. The authors highlight that ensuring the use of AAC in this highly valued activity can maximise carryover to real conversations. The...

Live versus e-learning – which is the most effective communication training approach for health care staff?

If staff are unable to communicate with their patients this can impact negatively on the patient’s healthcare. They may be excluded from decisions about their own care and their rights to informed consent may be violated. Conversation partner training has...

Snap: do voice patients’ self-ratings match the professionals or the machines?

Self-rating by people with voice disorders and perceptual assessments by speech and language therapists are generally quicker and cheaper than acoustic voice analysis. Reports, with small sample sizes and mixed participant groups, on whether these measures are associated have demonstrated...

COVID-19 and dysphagia in critically ill patients: a reflection of some findings

Dysphagia was a common occurrence in patients admitted to intensive care units (ITU) during the pandemic. This paper explores data from 26 ITUs over 12 months during 2020-2021. Findings from 235 patients admitted with Delta and subsequent Covid variants who...

Practical Neurotology and Skull Base Surgery

The introduction describes this text as being useful for a wide readership including the medical student, physician assistant, nurse practitioner and physical therapist dealing with dizziness. I would be of the opinion as indicated in the preface that this is...