JCPSLP Vol 23, Issue 1 2021

Speech pathology: An agile and responsive profession

Resource review

O’Halloran, R., Worrall, L., Toffolo, D., & Code, C. (2019). Inpatient functional communication interview: Screening, assessment and intervention (IFCI: SAI) . Plural Publishing. ISBN13: 978 1 63550172 8, 170 pages, B&W, spiral bound, 8.5” x 11” Rachel Higgins The Inpatient Functional Communication Interview: Screening, Assessment and Intervention (IFCI: SAI) is a new resource for speech pathologists and other health care professionals to identify and support patients with communication difficulties. It provides new tools to the original Inpatient Functional Communication Interview (IFCI) developed in 2004 based on further research and awareness of its limitations. In this way, it allows the opportunity for optimal patient–provider communication to occur by addressing barriers in the broader communicative environment. The IFCI: SAI is designed to be used in both acute and rehabilitation hospitals to improve the communication between patients and health care professionals. It is comprised of four sections with a variety of questionnaires and rating scales. The first section is the “Inpatient Functional Communication Interview-Screening Questionnaire”. This is completed by a nurse in about two minutes. It has questions about various communication scenarios such as a patient’s ability to express their wants and needs and follow instructions. This can help to identify any patient who has difficulty communicating due to a communication impairment, low literacy, cultural or language differences, or low health literacy. Patients with communication difficulties can then be provided with the appropriate support. The second section is the “Inpatient Functional Communication Interview”. This is completed by a speech pathologist and takes approximately 30 minutes to work through. It identifies how a patient communicates in different health care scenarios such as discussing their diagnosis and medical history, and asking questions about their care. The speech pathologist can then recommend specific communication strategies for the multidisciplinary team to use. The third section includes three rating scales completed by a speech pathologist for speech intelligibility, spoken language and cognitive-communication. There are five-point scales ranging from no impairment to complete impairment and they take about one minute each to complete. The rating scales can be used to identify areas requiring further assessment. The final section is a set of five environmental questionnaires completed by a speech pathologist to

identify other factors impacting a patient’s communication skills—for example, the availability of hearing and visual supports, nurse call buzzers and electronic communication devices. The speech pathologist can identify specific strategies that have assisted with patient–provider communication, and any barriers to implementing these both within and external to the hospital. This could then mean that recommendations are modified according to their feasibility of being implemented in each setting. The IFCI: SAI would be an excellent addition to current speech pathology practice to gather holistic information about a patient’s ability to communicate about their health care needs. The initial screening questionnaire completed by nurses would help identify patients requiring support who may otherwise not be on the speech pathology caseload. The fact that the interviews and rating scales can be completed within a relatively short timeframe would likely support their uptake in time-pressured hospitals. The environmental questionnaires may take longer to complete, but if able to be implemented, they would allow for optimal patient–provider communication to occur.

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JCPSLP Volume 23, Number 1 2021

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology