Dear All
I have been asked to advise a respiratory HDU within the hospital I work regarding basic communication aids and switches for use by their patients. The patients are in the acute stage of illness but do progress onto rehabilitation whilst they are waiting to go to local rehab units. The patients may be quadriplegic with conditions such as Guillian Barre. Or there may be patients with early head injury or MND needing ventiliation. Although many do not have cognitive deficits or sensory disturbances (some may have).
Please could anybody suggest communication devices that may be appropriate. They need to be simple to operate and be able to use through a single switch or through direct access (as the patient's ability improves).The aim is so that the patients can express basic needs eg: "please move my leg", "I am in pain", "I need a drink", and basic phrases programmed in for communicating with visitors. Please suggest ANYTHING you think might be useful to us (we are planning to purchase a few communication aids so that patients do not have to share). I would also like contact details of companies as I am planning to arrange demos before we make any decisions on what we want to purchase
Oh, and if that wasn't demanding enough, has anyone got experience of setting this sort of thing up in either the acute hospital setting or more specifically within an HDU or ICU setting.
We have no speech and language therapists to call on.
Thanks in anticipation of lots of emails (I hope!!)
Kate Heward
Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist
Neurological Rehabiliation
Lower Ground Floor
Chancellors Wing
St James's University Hospital
Beckett Street
LEEDS
LS7 9TF
Tel: 0113 2066819
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