ACQ Vol 12 No 3 2010

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ACQ Volume 12, Number 3 2010 107
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Medical Quality, 19(5), 193–200.
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Environmental factors that influence communication between
people with communication disability and their healthcare
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be important in creating a communicatively accessible
healthcare setting.
Improving the communicative accessibility of healthcare
services may be a particularly effective way for speech
pathologists to support people with communication
disabilities. Any enhancements to the physical environment
of the healthcare setting, any improvements in the skills
and knowledge of healthcare providers, or any changes
to healthcare policies and procedures not only benefit
people with communication disabilities receiving healthcare
now, but also will benefit people with communication
disabilities needing healthcare from that service in the future
(O’Halloran, Hickson, & Worrall, 2008).
A review of the literature on the range of environmental
factors that create barriers to and/or facilitate communication
for people with communication disabilities in the hospital
setting identified many different environmental factors
that influence the ability of patients with communication
disabilities to communicate effectively with healthcare
providers in hospital (O’Halloran et al., 2008). For example,
some environmental factors related to:
1. products and technology, such as the availability
of assistive listening devices and communicatively
accessible formats,
2. support and relationships, including the knowledge, skills
and attitudes of healthcare providers, and
3. services, systems, and policies, such as hospital policies
on hearing accessibility.
Although further research is needed to better understand
the range of environmental factors that influence the ability
of people with different types of communication disabilities
to communicate, research is also needed to understand
how healthcare settings can be made more communicatively
accessible so that people with communication disabilities
and their healthcare providers can communicate more
successfully.
This issue of the ACQ provides an opportunity to share
the innovative clinical and research efforts of some of the
Australian speech pathologists and audiologists who are
working towards the development of communicatively
accessible healthcare environments. These articles suggest
that the creation of communicatively accessible healthcare
environment requires a high level of commitment, support
from executive administration, and effort over a long period
of time. These articles also indicate that creating and
maintaining communicatively accessible environments calls
for a long-term commitment so that the communication
needs of people with communication disabilities are
considered on an ongoing basis as healthcare settings and
services continue to evolve. Finally, although the challenges
and complexities involved in creating communicatively
accessible healthcare environments may appear daunting,
the articles contained in this issue provide us with a glimpse
of what is possible.
References
Balandin, S., Hemsley, B., Sigafoos, J., & Green, V. (2007).
Communicating with nurses: The experiences of 10 adults
with cerebral palsy and complex communication needs.
Applied Nursing Research, 20, 56–62.
Bartlett, G., Blais, R., Tamblyn, R., Clermont, R., &
MacGibbon, B. (2008). Impact of patient communication
problems on the risk of preventable adverse events in
acute care settings. Canadian Medical Association Journal,
178 (12), 1555–1562.
Robyn O’Halloran completed her PhD at the University of
Queensland in 2009. She works part-time as a lecturer in the
School of Human Communication Sciences at La Trobe University,
Victoria, and part-time as a postdoctoral fellow in the Centre for
Clinical Research Excellence in Aphasia Rehabilitation.
Correspondence to:
Robyn O’Halloran, PhD
Human Communication Sciences
La Trobe University,
Bundoora 3086 Victoria
phone: +613 9479 1818
email: R.O