Exploring speech therapists' and audiologists' experiences regarding patient death and dying

Abstract

Background: Healthcare professionals (HCPs) such as speech therapists and audiologists (ST/As), who work within healthcare facilities and special needs schools, may be confronted with instances of patient death and dying. Thus, it is imperative for these professionals to be prepared for these encounters. There appears to be sparse research internationally regarding HCPs' perceptions of patient death and dying, and unexplored research regarding ST/As' insights concerning death and dying, especially in South Africa. Purpose: This study aimed to explore ST/As' experiences regarding patient death and dying. Method: ST/As employed in the healthcare sector and special needs schools were invited to participate in the study. A qualitative research design was employed to obtain insight into ST/As' experiences with patient death and dying. Data was collected by conducting 25 narrative interviews with participants. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the narratives obtained from the interviews. Results and Conclusions: The results of this dissertation suggest that a hallmark of participants' professional identity was the implementation of the Ubuntu philosophy. Additionally, in participants' endeavours to uphold the principle of duty of care, they seemed to sacrifice their self-care. Therefore, their ethic of care was not upheld. This resulted in them experiencing grief when they were faced with patient death and dying. Based on participants' grief reactions, the researcher formulated a proposed grief model which describes the ST As' reactions to patient death and dying. Failure of participants being able to work through their grief may have resulted in participants being at risk for developing complicated grief. Therefore, the findings from the study indicate the need for ST I As to receive: preprofessional training regarding patient death and dying, to engage in collaborative practice when providing end of life (EOL) care and after patients' death, and the necessity for organisational support. Professional bodies which ST/As may be members of need to provide professional guidelines on how these professionals need to approach patient death and dying. Keywords: patient death and dying. speech therapists and audiologists, qualitative research, narrative interviews, narratives, Ubuntu philosophy, duty of care, self-care, ethic of care, grief.