A Family Systems Approach to Augmentative anAlternative Communication Service Delivery in thInpatient Setting: Recommendations for Speech-Language Pathologists

Purpose: Family-centered care is necessary to deliver high-quality health cservices. It is especially critical that family members are included in augmetive and alternative communication (AAC) service provision in the inpatient sting. AAC can be overwhelming to families and requires accommodations foto effectively integrate into daily communicative interactions. Currently, there minimal guidance for family-centered care by speech-language pathologis(SLPs) working with children with limited functional speech in the inpatient patric setting. The purpose of this clinical focus article is to apply principles family systems theory to the inpatient pediatric setting to guide effective famcentered clinical practice and improve outcomes. Method: This clinical focus article describes a family systems framework guide the development and use of supports to families during the extenhospitalization of a child with limited speech who may benefit from AAC in inpatient rehabilitation setting. Two case studies are used to illustrate the apcation of a family systems approach in the pediatric inpatient setting. Results: Recommendations are provided for the inclusion of primary caregivin service delivery by SLPs in the inpatient hospital context. Clinical implicatiand future directions are discussed. Conclusions: The hospitalization of a child who uses AAC can be a streexperience for the entire family system. By using a family systems framewSLPs may improve AAC service delivery outcomes by working collaborativwith family members and offering supports for both AAC implementation general well-being. SLPs may also benefit from this approach to AAC serdelivery as families may be more actively engaged in sessions, leading increased uptake of intervention strategies and AAC.