Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

To know the perception of people with stuttering about their treatment experiences based on the CALMS multidimensional model in its five dimensions; cognitive, affective or emotional, linguistic, motor control of speech and social. This research was developed with a qualitative approach, descriptive analysis and phenomenological approach. Five male subjects between 19 and 39 years of age, diagnosed with persistent developmental stutter, participated. Each of them responded to a semi-structured interview individually, through open questions categorized in the five dimensions of the CALMS multidimensional model. The Atlas.ti version 7 software was used for the analysis of the information. The results of the survey indicated that the participants perceive the multidimensional approach as an intervention model that helps them develop their confidence, perform better in their lives and improve their quality of life, even though cycles of negative thoughts and feelings still persist within the contexts of their daily life and environment in general. Although the subjects perceive the speech-language intervention in a positive way, the personal characteristics of each participant and the impact of the social environment influenced the answers in the cognitive and emotional domain based on the questions in the survey.

This study analyses the eating routines and habits of Portuguese children aged 4 to 18 months, the methods of food introduction most frequently used, and the parents’ perceptions regarding the importance of food introduction for speech development. A sample of 297 parents filled out an online self-report questionnaire about their perceptions, knowledge, and routines regarding food introduction methods, and their relationship with speech development. This questionnaire showed high reliability (α=0.86). The majority of the Portuguese mothers that filled out the survey answered either that they breastfed their children or breastfed them in combination with bottle feeding. They also stated that they introduce new food to their children in the form of soups or purees and that they vary the flavors, textures, and consistencies frequently. Although the results showed a reasonable level of knowledge regarding the traditional and Baby Led Weaning (BLW) methods, there was a higher frequency of use of the traditional method in this sample when compared to BLW. There was not a significant correlation between the age of the parents and their perception of the importance of feeding for speech. In turn, parents with a higher level of education showed a greater awareness of the relevance of feeding in the development of speech. Parents with a higher number of children showed less awareness of the relationship between feeding and speech development.

Phonological awareness is a strong predictor of reading and writing skills development. Several programs have been developed and tested for the stimulation of phonological awareness, but the degree of variation among them makes it difficult to compare the different methods. A synthesis of the literature on phonological awareness stimulation programs is needed to examine the effectiveness of PA programs while considering the variability that exists between the methodologies used. This systematic review aimed to 1) synthesize the literature on PA stimulation programs in typically developing children; 2) examine the effectiveness of PA programs; 3) critically appraise the methodology of PA stimulation programs. Central, Medline, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge were used to conduct an extensive literature search. A total of 10 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the present study. Results showed that, in general, the phonological awareness stimulation programs carried out in the analyzed research were effective. However, the quality of the methodology varied significantly across studies, showing in some cases a lack of detail in the inclusion criteria, limited training of the professionals who carried out the PA programs, an inconsistency in parent involvement, and a lack of follow-up. Guidelines for future research are discussed to enhance the methodological quality of this line of research and reduce the risk of bias.

The evaluation of cognitive aspects in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) is a fundamental area to consider in their intervention, due to the high prevalence of cognitive impairment, which is considered disabling and has an impact on the quality of life of the person who suffers it and in his closest network. At present, cognitive evaluation has been recommended through the BICAMS (Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS), which is a specific battery for evaluating people with MS, but which does not have its validation in our country. Therefore the present study was born in order to explore the variables to be considered for future validation. The sample consisted of 38 people with RRMS and as a result it was found that age and gender factors did influence cognitive performance, but not education, months of disease evolution, and level of disability. Among the cognitive tests, the BVMTR is the most significantly related to the variables of age and gender. It is recommended to increase the sample size and expand it to other regions of the country to have a representative sample of our Chilean population.

Explaining the scope of the qualitative approach to health sciences undergraduate students is a challenge for those of us who must translate the anthropological and social perspectives of social research in health. This is because students are used to operating within the nature/culture and science/belief dichotomies. This challenge involves teaching them to look beyond these dichotomies and it demands that we, as lecturers, overcome the limited understanding that often characterizes the relationship of healthcare professionals with what the qualitative approach can offer them. Based on the teaching experience of the authors, this article aims to reflect on the implications of these challenges in the classroom, resorting to examples of qualitative research design exercises taught in the Speech and Language Pathology career at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Chile. We conclude that an early approach to qualitative methodologies would allow undergraduate students to develop a critical view of reductive dichotomies for the production and validation of knowledge. In addition, it would promote an understanding of the social dimension of health as an individual and collective phenomenon, and medicine as a transdisciplinary field of work.

Spoken language acquisition is challenging for very young deaf or hard-of-hearing children (DHH) who wear hearing aids or cochlear implants (CI). Timely decision-making for treatment is essential for these children and requires suitable assessments. Two such assessments are the Categories of Auditory Performance Index II (CAP-II) and the Speech Intelligibility Rating Scale (SIR). These have been shown to be helpful for the ongoing evaluation of developing speech perception and spoken language skills in various languages, but they are not available in Chilean Spanish. This study aimed to create a Chilean Spanish translation of the CAP-II and SIR appropriate for online self-administration by parents-caregivers in Chile to assist professionals in monitoring DHH children’s progress, considering the COVID-19 restrictions. The methods used in the process started with translating a self-report proposal from the original English versions of the CAP-II and SIR scales. Finally, the Chilean Spanish versions were tested in 107 Chilean parents-caregivers of DHH children with CIs. The results suggest these instruments are suitable for use in a Chilean context.

Previous research has described swallowing disorders in critical hospitalized patients who require intubation and mechanical ventilation. In the context of the pandemic, it is fundamental to investigate the severity of dysphagia in patients suffering from COVID-19. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics of the swallowing function in extubated critical patients with and without COVID-19. A retrospective cohort study was carried out, considering a convenience sample of 43 patients over the age of 15 years, hospitalized at the San Juan de Dios Hospital between June 1st and August 31st, 2020, and intubated, with and without the diagnosis of COVID-19. Of 43 patients, 22 were diagnosed with COVID-19 and were intubated for significantly more days when compared with those without COVID-19 (p=.002). Immediately following tracheal extubation, 90% of the sample was diagnosed with dysphagia. There was no significant difference in the FILS scores nor significant association in the severity of dysphagia between patients with and without COVID-19. Ten days post-extubation, there were no significant differences in the FILS score between both groups. The FILS scores increased significantly in the COVID-19 (p=.016) and non-COVID-19 (p=.004) patients after 10 days of extubation. Additionally, there were no statistically significant differences in the FILS score and dysphagia severity between critically ill patients with and without COVID-19, although there was a high prevalence of dysphagia in both groups, which could be associated with endotracheal intubation and endotracheal tubes. The incorporation of speech and language pathologists into Critical Care Units is essential. Moreover, it is recommended that further research is carried out in this field.

This review aims to identify and describe the structure of the therapeutic objectives included in research reporting vocal therapy procedures during the last five years. The strategic search was carried out on three databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect and Web Of Science and 3,974 records were obtained. After the analysis, 12 articles met the inclusion criteria. The general trend in the literature of the area is the omission of the objectives and the exclusive reference to the therapeutic procedures used. The qualitative analysis shows an absence of a standard textual structure and a lack of differentiation between levels of objective hierarchy, which causes a high degree of heterogeneity in their writing. The role of client is rather secondary and passive. The setting of achievement criteria and the contents operationalization to be addressed in the voice therapy session are insufficiently attended. The enunciation of the therapy contents from their conceptual nature hinders a concrete measurement to the therapeutical task proposed, due to its lack of operationalization. It is concluded that there is no common structure in the vocal therapy objectives formulation.

The objective of this research is to investigate and discuss how Mapuche health approaches the health conditions that Speech-Language Therapy classifies as communication disorders, from a theoretical-epistemological approach that contemplates the training of health agents, the diagnostic process, the intercultural mapuche health system relationships, and the treatment of voice, hearing, swallowing, language and cognition disorders. Through a grounded theory design, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six Mapuche health agents, including four machi, one lawentuchefe, and one peumantufe. As results, three categories of analysis are obtained: kizukutrán (related to the training process of the health agent), kutrán (related to pathologies, disorders, diagnosis and treatment) and health system (related to the differences and relationships between the system mapuche and non-mapuche health). Mapuche traditional practitioners use medicinal plants, rituals and their own therapeutic resources to address pathologies in the area of speech therapy, and they are used independently or together with official medical health. The differences and coincidences of the Mapuche health approach to pathologies in the area of speech therapy are discussed, as well as the challenges of the profession to carry out respectful and ethical intercultural therapeutic practices.

The article proposes a critique of the truth-knowledge-power relationship that bases the notions of normative body, established by medical knowledge since modernity and that is still sustained in the present, thanks to the actions of professions such as Speech-Language Therapy. From this perspective, the profession of Speech-Language Therapy is located as a source of production and reproduction of these notions of normative body, under binary logics related to dualisms such as the health/disease relationship, functionality/dysfunctionality and capacity/disability. I describe Crip epistemology as a new critical commitment to resistance to medical bioknowledge that established these dualisms and that has maintained forms of power and capture of life in which people with disabilities are trapped, excluded and relegated. I conclude that, just as the social model of disability implied new epistemological and ethical challenges for the action of society in relation to the way in which disability was politically responded at the end of the twentieth century, today, through the suggestive proposal of Crip epistemology, again the social movements of disability confront medical knowledge, and the professions that are located from there, to reconsider the way in which they construct, validate and generalize knowledge about disability. Taking on this challenge will lead to transformations on practices in Speech-Language Therapy that involve thinking about acting, not about the body, but from the bodies; It implies constructing a knowledge located from an embodied subject capable of distancing itself from the traditional, Eurocentric, English-speaking, hegemonic bioknowledge.