Abstract
Background
Neonatal speech and language therapists play an important role in the neonatal healthcare system, yet there is no consensus on how the feeding and early communication development outcomes of neonates should be evaluated. Outcome measurement is essential for delivering high-quality, family-integrated neonatal care in the UK. Current national outcome tools are often based on impairment measures. They do not adequately capture the impact of speech and language therapy (SLT) interventions supporting developmental aspects of neonatal SLT, such as feeding, communication, and parent–infant interaction. This highlights the need for a specialized outcome measure for this increasingly complex patient group.
Aim
To develop a neonatal SLT outcome measure tool to measure the outcomes of SLT neonatal intervention delivery, supporting feeding, communication, and parent–infant interaction outcomes of neonates within a neurodevelopmental, family-integrated care model.
Design
A three-round e-Delphi survey sought opinions from expert neonatal speech and language therapists in the UK to determine the most appropriate content to include in an SLT neonatal outcome measure tool.
Method
Round 1 comprised 28 questions, Round 2 comprised 9 questions, and in the final round, 10 questions were posed to the expert panel. Three rounds of surveying the expert panel’s opinions on the content and face validity of the SLT neonatal outcome wheel (SLT-NOW) were needed to develop the final format of the tool. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.
Results
Through the e-Delphi process, a consensus was reached (≥75%) for each outcome measure and associated descriptor included in the SLT-NOW.
Conclusions
Consensus was achieved by an expert panel regarding the content and face validity of the SLT-NOW. The SLT-NOW offers a tool for neonatal SLTs to determine the feeding, early communication development, and early parent–infant interaction of neonates during their time on the neonatal unit.
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Supplementary Material
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