Understanding Communication Barriers in Acute Care: A Mixed-Methods Needs Assessment Among Healthcare Providers Caring for Non-Verbal Patients With Spinal Cord Injury and Tracheostomy in the ICU
27 août 2026 mis à jour par: Jason Chui, University of British Columbia
Communication impairment is common among critically ill patients who are mechanically ventilated, have tracheostomies, or have neurological injuries such as spinal cord injury. In acute care settings, inability to communicate contributes to patient distress, impairs symptom assessment, and may delay care. Although a range of communication supports exist, many are difficult to use in patients with severe weakness, limited endurance, or fluctuating cognition. More advanced assistive communication systems, including eye-tracking and brain-computer interface platforms, have shown promise in chronic neurological populations but have not been well adapted to the practical realities of acute care.
This study will use a sequential exploratory mixed-methods design to better understand communication barriers in acute care from the perspective of frontline healthcare providers. In the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews will be conducted with nurses and speech-language pathologists working with patients who have spinal cord injury, tracheostomy, or other causes of impaired verbal communication in ICU and related acute care settings. Findings from these interviews will inform development of a structured survey to be distributed to a broader group of nurses and speech-language pathologists. Qualitative and quantitative findings will then be integrated to identify priority communication needs, limitations of current strategies, and practical requirements for future assistive communication tools. Findings will inform development of clinically relevant communication solutions for acute care environments.
Aperçu de l'étude
Statut
Pas encore de recrutement
Les conditions
Description détaillée
This study will employ a two-stage sequential exploratory mixed-methods design.
In the first stage, semi-structured interviews (N=10-15) and, where feasible, focus groups will be conducted with ICU clinicians and rehabilitation staff to identify communication barriers and priority use cases for assistive communication in nonverbal patients.
Themes emerging from qualitative analysis will inform the development of a structured survey, which will be administered to a broader cohort of clinical staff (N=80-100) to quantify the prevalence and relative importance of identified communication gaps.
Findings from the qualitative and quantitative phases will be integrated to generate a clinical requirements framework to inform the future development of assistive communication tools for acute care settings.
Type d'étude
Observationnel
Inscription (Estimé)
100
Contacts et emplacements
Cette section fournit les coordonnées de ceux qui mènent l'étude et des informations sur le lieu où cette étude est menée.
Coordonnées de l'étude
- Nom: Jason Chui, MBChB, FRCPC
- Numéro de téléphone: 66378 604-875-4111
- E-mail: jason.chui@ubc.ca
Sauvegarde des contacts de l'étude
- Nom: Shirley Lim, BSN, BS-HRIM
- E-mail: shirley.lim@vch.ca
Lieux d'étude
-
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British Columbia
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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z 1M9
- Vancouver General Hospital
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-
Critères de participation
Les chercheurs recherchent des personnes qui correspondent à une certaine description, appelée critères d'éligibilité. Certains exemples de ces critères sont l'état de santé général d'une personne ou des traitements antérieurs.
Critère d'éligibilité
Âges éligibles pour étudier
- Adulte
- Adulte plus âgé
Accepte les volontaires sains
Oui
Méthode d'échantillonnage
Échantillon de probabilité
Population étudiée
Care givers to the non-verbal patients with communication barrier
La description
Inclusion Criteria:
- be a healthcare provider such as physicians, registered nurses, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, or physiotherapists;
- work in ICU, spine, neurosurgical, or related acute care inpatient settings;
- have experience caring for patients with impaired verbal communication, including patients with tracheostomy, mechanical ventilation, or spinal cord injury; and
- be able to provide informed consent. A small subset of family caregivers may also be included if they have direct experience supporting communication for patients with impaired verbal communication in these settings.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Individuals not directly involved in the care of patients with impaired verbal communication in the relevant clinical settings
- Trainees who are not yet independently practicing, unless they are participating in an independent clinical role
- Family caregivers without direct experience supporting communication needs in the acute care setting
Plan d'étude
Cette section fournit des détails sur le plan d'étude, y compris la façon dont l'étude est conçue et ce que l'étude mesure.
Comment l'étude est-elle conçue ?
Détails de conception
Que mesure l'étude ?
Principaux critères de jugement
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
|
High-priority Communication Needs in Acute Care
Délai: At completion of the 3-5-minute survey on Day 1
|
Communication needs identified as high priority by healthcare providers based on their ratings of the importance and frequency of communication needs experienced by patients with impaired verbal communication in acute care settings.
The survey will also assess which communication functions healthcare providers consider most important for inclusion in future assistive communication interfaces.
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At completion of the 3-5-minute survey on Day 1
|
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Priority of Communication Needs in Acute Care
Délai: Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
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Healthcare providers' ratings of the importance and frequency of communication needs experienced by patients with impaired verbal communication in acute care settings.
Priority communication needs will be identified through thematic analysis of interviews and quantified in the Stage 2 survey using importance and frequency ratings.
|
Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
|
Mesures de résultats secondaires
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
|
Current Communication Strategies and Perceived Limitations
Délai: Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
|
Identification and characterization of communication strategies currently used by healthcare providers, including low-technology and augmentative and alternative communication approaches, and perceived limitations or barriers associated with their use.
Findings will be derived from qualitative interviews and summarized quantitatively in the survey where applicable.
|
Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
|
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Priority Communication Functions for Bedside Use
Délai: Stage 2 survey; approximately Month 4
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Healthcare providers' prioritization of communication functions considered most appropriate for a simplified bedside assistive communication interface.
Participants will select a limited number of communication functions from those identified during the qualitative phase.
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Stage 2 survey; approximately Month 4
|
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Workflow and Implementation Feasibility Requirements
Délai: Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
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Healthcare providers' perceptions of practical requirements for implementing assistive communication tools in acute care, including acceptable setup time, training requirements, workflow integration, and environmental or clinical barriers.
|
Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
|
Autres mesures de résultats
Mesure des résultats |
Description de la mesure |
Délai |
|---|---|---|
|
Communication System Functional Requirements
Délai: Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
|
Identification of functional and interface requirements for future assistive communication systems, including required communication tasks, presentation/interface considerations, contextual information, and usability requirements.
Requirements will be identified through thematic analysis and prioritized using survey findings.
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Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
|
Collaborateurs et enquêteurs
C'est ici que vous trouverez les personnes et les organisations impliquées dans cette étude.
Parrainer
Collaborateurs
Dates d'enregistrement des études
Ces dates suivent la progression des dossiers d'étude et des soumissions de résultats sommaires à ClinicalTrials.gov. Les dossiers d'étude et les résultats rapportés sont examinés par la Bibliothèque nationale de médecine (NLM) pour s'assurer qu'ils répondent à des normes de contrôle de qualité spécifiques avant d'être publiés sur le site Web public.
Dates principales de l'étude
Début de l'étude (Estimé)
1 août 2026
Achèvement primaire (Estimé)
1 décembre 2027
Achèvement de l'étude (Estimé)
1 décembre 2027
Dates d'inscription aux études
Première soumission
28 juillet 2026
Première soumission répondant aux critères de contrôle qualité
27 août 2026
Première publication (Réel)
31 août 2026
Mises à jour des dossiers d'étude
Dernière mise à jour publiée (Réel)
31 août 2026
Dernière mise à jour soumise répondant aux critères de contrôle qualité
27 août 2026
Dernière vérification
1 août 2026
Plus d'information
Termes liés à cette étude
Mots clés
Termes MeSH pertinents supplémentaires
Autres numéros d'identification d'étude
- H26-01406
Plan pour les données individuelles des participants (IPD)
Prévoyez-vous de partager les données individuelles des participants (DPI) ?
NON
Description du régime IPD
This study involves survey data only.
Additional approval is required to share the data.
Informations sur les médicaments et les dispositifs, documents d'étude
Étudie un produit pharmaceutique réglementé par la FDA américaine
Non
Étudie un produit d'appareil réglementé par la FDA américaine
Non
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