Health care profession students' awareness and perception towards augmentative and alternative communication systems

Abstract

The use of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) systems has gained importance throughout the years. Having said that, there is still the issue of health care professionals lacking sufficient awareness to provide services to individuals using AAC. With research claiming the need to make clinical environments more communicatively accessible, research suggests the prioritisation of increased professional awareness in the area. Hence, the purpose of this research is to explore the awareness and perception of health care profession students, currently enrolled in their final year of studies within the University of Malta, towards AAC systems. Furthermore, the level of training given in the area and views on further training will be explored. This is a study which is yet to be analysed within the Maltese population. This exploration was done through quantitative study using a cross-sectional design. Data was collected through an online questionnaire, completed by 38 health care profession students from different undergraduate courses. Students reported a relatively low level of awareness in the area. Students also reported having to resort to other individuals when difficulties in communication with people having Complex Communication Needs (CCN) arise. A number of participants expressed negative feelings towards situations where AAC must be used, whilst other students did not indicate any change of feelings when faced with such situations. Overall, a general agreement of lack of sufficient training and the desire for further training on AAC was observed.