Denne siden ble automatisk oversatt og nøyaktigheten av oversettelsen er ikke garantert. Vennligst referer til engelsk versjon for en kildetekst.

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. august 2026 oppdatert av: 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.

Studieoversikt

Status

Har ikke rekruttert ennå

Forhold

Detaljert beskrivelse

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.

Studietype

Observasjonsmessig

Registrering (Antatt)

100

Kontakter og plasseringer

Denne delen inneholder kontaktinformasjon for de som utfører studien, og informasjon om hvor denne studien blir utført.

Studiekontakt

  • Navn: Jason Chui, MBChB, FRCPC
  • Telefonnummer: 66378 604-875-4111
  • E-post: jason.chui@ubc.ca

Studer Kontakt Backup

Studiesteder

  • Canada
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z 1M9
        • Vancouver General Hospital

Deltakelseskriterier

Forskere ser etter personer som passer til en bestemt beskrivelse, kalt kvalifikasjonskriterier. Noen eksempler på disse kriteriene er en persons generelle helsetilstand eller tidligere behandlinger.

Kvalifikasjonskriterier

Alder som er kvalifisert for studier

  • Voksen
  • Eldre voksen

Tar imot friske frivillige

Ja

Prøvetakingsmetode

Sannsynlighetsprøve

Studiepopulasjon

Care givers to the non-verbal patients with communication barrier

Beskrivelse

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

Studieplan

Denne delen gir detaljer om studieplanen, inkludert hvordan studien er utformet og hva studien måler.

Hvordan er studiet utformet?

Designdetaljer

Hva måler studien?

Primære resultatmål

Resultatmål
Tiltaksbeskrivelse
Tidsramme
High-priority Communication Needs in Acute Care
Tidsramme: 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.
At completion of the 3-5-minute survey on Day 1
Priority of Communication Needs in Acute Care
Tidsramme: Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
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

Sekundære resultatmål

Resultatmål
Tiltaksbeskrivelse
Tidsramme
Current Communication Strategies and Perceived Limitations
Tidsramme: 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
Priority Communication Functions for Bedside Use
Tidsramme: Stage 2 survey; approximately Month 4
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.
Stage 2 survey; approximately Month 4
Workflow and Implementation Feasibility Requirements
Tidsramme: Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4
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

Andre resultatmål

Resultatmål
Tiltaksbeskrivelse
Tidsramme
Communication System Functional Requirements
Tidsramme: 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.
Stage 1 interviews and Stage 2 survey; approximately Months 3-4

Samarbeidspartnere og etterforskere

Det er her du vil finne personer og organisasjoner som er involvert i denne studien.

Sponsor

University of British Columbia

Samarbeidspartnere

Vancouver General Hospital

Studierekorddatoer

Disse datoene sporer fremdriften for innsending av studieposter og sammendragsresultater til ClinicalTrials.gov. Studieposter og rapporterte resultater gjennomgås av National Library of Medicine (NLM) for å sikre at de oppfyller spesifikke kvalitetskontrollstandarder før de legges ut på det offentlige nettstedet.

Studer hoveddatoer

Studiestart (Antatt)

1. august 2026

Primær fullføring (Antatt)

1. desember 2027

Studiet fullført (Antatt)

1. desember 2027

Datoer for studieregistrering

Først innsendt

28. juli 2026

Først innsendt som oppfylte QC-kriteriene

27. august 2026

Først lagt ut (Faktiske)

31. august 2026

Oppdateringer av studieposter

Sist oppdatering lagt ut (Faktiske)

31. august 2026

Siste oppdatering sendt inn som oppfylte QC-kriteriene

27. august 2026

Sist bekreftet

1. august 2026

Mer informasjon

Begreper knyttet til denne studien

Nøkkelord

Ytterligere relevante MeSH-vilkår

Andre studie-ID-numre

  • H26-01406

Plan for individuelle deltakerdata (IPD)

Planlegger du å dele individuelle deltakerdata (IPD)?

NEI

IPD-planbeskrivelse

This study involves survey data only. Additional approval is required to share the data.

Legemiddel- og utstyrsinformasjon, studiedokumenter

Studerer et amerikansk FDA-regulert medikamentprodukt

Nei

Studerer et amerikansk FDA-regulert enhetsprodukt

Nei

Denne informasjonen ble hentet direkte fra nettstedet clinicaltrials.gov uten noen endringer. Hvis du har noen forespørsler om å endre, fjerne eller oppdatere studiedetaljene dine, vennligst kontakt register@clinicaltrials.gov. Så snart en endring er implementert på clinicaltrials.gov, vil denne også bli oppdatert automatisk på nettstedet vårt. .

Abonnere