Augmentative and Alternative Communication – Scoping Review / Unterstützte Kommunikation – Scoping Review
Published Online: Aug 03, 2018
Page range: 91 - 108
Received: Sep 29, 2017
Accepted: Jun 08, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijhp-2018-0010
Keywords
© 2018 Anja Kollmar, Christiane Hohenstein, Adriana Sabatino, Brigitte Gantschnig, published by De Gruyter
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Introduction
The effective use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication is challenging, not only for persons with complex communication needs, but also for their significant others. There is a need, therefore, for interprofessional collaboration in order to effectively assess, provide, and evaluate services.
Aim
The aim of this scoping review was to summarize current evidence in the field of Augmentative and Alternative Communication and reveal the demands for further research.
Method
We searched in the electronic databases Pubmed, AMED, and CINAHL using following keywords
Results
We included 16 literature reviews and 36 studies in this review. The 36 studies included 11 intervention studies, 20 descriptive studies, two experimental studies, and three studies evaluating assessments. Most of the studies were focussing on children with cerebral palsy and autism in the contexts of home, hospital, and primary school. There were no intervention studies, focusing on secondary and/or tertiary level of education or work. Moreover, we have not found any evidence from German speaking Europe.
Conclusion
In order to support the use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication and to enable participation of persons with complex communication needs, various endeavours are needed: in the practice of care settings interprofessional collaboration is required. Further research is needed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, focussing on youth and the contexts of secondary and/or tertiary education or work, or on assessments.