Not only for now: The importance of speech pathology services to improve health outcomes of children with cancer during and after treatment.
Tracks
4
Acute care – paediatric
Cancer
Evidence based practice
Innovative practice
Oncology
Paediatric/Infant
Palliative care
Service delivery
Therapy
| Saturday, June 14, 2025 |
| 11:45 AM - 11:55 AM |
Overview
Siew-Lian Crossley
Details
⏫ Research insights
⏲️ 11.45am - 12.05pm
⌛20-minutes
📚 Assumed knowledge of attendees: Foundational (new/casual familiarity with the topic e.g. treated a single case)
⏲️ 11.45am - 12.05pm
⌛20-minutes
📚 Assumed knowledge of attendees: Foundational (new/casual familiarity with the topic e.g. treated a single case)
Presenter
Mrs Siew-Lian Crossley
The Royal Children's Hospital
Not only for now: The importance of speech pathology services to improve health outcomes of children with cancer during and after treatment.
11:55 AM - 12:15 PMPresentation summary
Childhood cancer causes significant disruptions to development and can impact communication and swallowing during and after active treatment. Australian speech pathology services to this population are limited. This session will describe evaluation of data collected from a speech pathology service embedded in a tertiary children’s cancer centre for 12 months.
The research objectives aimed to assess patient demographics, clinical presentation, needs and service utilization of a 0.4 EFT speech pathology service in the cancer centre.
The study utilised a mixed-methods prospective audit of service, including data collection and qualitative survey of consumer and staff satisfaction. Data collected included patient demographics such as cancer diagnosis, gender, age, type/severity and treatment of communication/swallowing impairment. Service data included referrals, response time, clinical contacts, assessment/intervention data, outcomes, onward referral data and consumer and staff feedback.
Results will be discussed: Sixty children received speech pathology input (34 male; 26, female) and over 300 clinical contacts. Average age at referral 5 years (range 4m-14y). Diagnoses included brain tumour (15,25%), leukemia (25,42%), solid tumours (19,32%) and aplastic anaemia (1,2%). The reasons for referral varied. Referrals for communication difficulties included tracheostomy, AAC, receptive/expressive language difficulties, speech, and developmental conditions impacting access to treatment. End of treatment referrals included literacy difficulties, cognitive communication impairment and challenges transitioning back to education settings. Referrals for swallowing included aspiration, paediatric feeding disorder and severe oral aversion requiring nasogastric tube feeding.
The presentation will address service user feedback including parental concerns about development, communication and feeding across all stages of treatment, highlighting the importance of access to speech pathology.
The discussion will highlight complex feeding/swallowing needs of children with cancer, and the imperative for access to quality specialist speech pathology services embedded within children’s cancer centers to improve outcomes across all stages of treatment, and discuss current service provision across Australia.
The research objectives aimed to assess patient demographics, clinical presentation, needs and service utilization of a 0.4 EFT speech pathology service in the cancer centre.
The study utilised a mixed-methods prospective audit of service, including data collection and qualitative survey of consumer and staff satisfaction. Data collected included patient demographics such as cancer diagnosis, gender, age, type/severity and treatment of communication/swallowing impairment. Service data included referrals, response time, clinical contacts, assessment/intervention data, outcomes, onward referral data and consumer and staff feedback.
Results will be discussed: Sixty children received speech pathology input (34 male; 26, female) and over 300 clinical contacts. Average age at referral 5 years (range 4m-14y). Diagnoses included brain tumour (15,25%), leukemia (25,42%), solid tumours (19,32%) and aplastic anaemia (1,2%). The reasons for referral varied. Referrals for communication difficulties included tracheostomy, AAC, receptive/expressive language difficulties, speech, and developmental conditions impacting access to treatment. End of treatment referrals included literacy difficulties, cognitive communication impairment and challenges transitioning back to education settings. Referrals for swallowing included aspiration, paediatric feeding disorder and severe oral aversion requiring nasogastric tube feeding.
The presentation will address service user feedback including parental concerns about development, communication and feeding across all stages of treatment, highlighting the importance of access to speech pathology.
The discussion will highlight complex feeding/swallowing needs of children with cancer, and the imperative for access to quality specialist speech pathology services embedded within children’s cancer centers to improve outcomes across all stages of treatment, and discuss current service provision across Australia.
Refrences
Hodges R, Campbell L, Chami S, Knijnik SR, Docking K. (2021) Communication and swallowing outcomes of children diagnosed with childhood brain tumor or leukemia: A systematic review. Pediatric Blood Cancer. 68:e28809. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.28809
Kevin R. Krull, Kristina K. Hardy, Lisa S. Kahalley, Ilse Schuitema, Shelli R. Kesler (2018). Neurocognitive outcomes and interventions in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 36:21, 2181-2189
Mei C, Morgan AT (2011). Incidence of mutism, dysarthria and dysphagia associated with childhood posterior fossa tumour. Childs Nervous System. 27(7):1129-1136
Taylor OD, Ware RS, Weir KA (2012) Speech pathology services to children with cancer and nonmalignant hematological disorders. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 29(2):98-108.
Lewis FM, Murdoch BE, Docking KM (2011). An investigation of general and high-level language skills in children treated with central nervous system-targeted chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology. 19(2):27-36
Docking, Kimberley & Hodges, Rosemary & Campbell, Lani & Chami, Sara & Knijnik, Stefani & Campbell, Emma & Paquier, Philippe & Dalla-Pozza, Luciano & Wakefield, Claire & Waugh, Mary-Clare & Messina, Maria & Morgan, Angela. (2020). Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Communication and Swallowing following Childhood Brain Tumour and Leukaemia.
Chami, S., Hodges, R., Campbell, E., Knijnik, S. R., & Docking, K. (2021). Communication and swallowing management in childhood brain tumour or leukaemia: A survey of health professionals and consumers. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24(4), 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2021.1987520
Kolhoff S.M, Krueger B.I, Imgrund C.M (2023) Speech-Language Pathology Services in Paediatric Cancer: Survey and interview data on caregiver experiences. Seminars in Speech and Language; 44(01): 004-014DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1756682
Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (2023). Capability Framework for Victorian Children’s Cancer Services. 3rd ed. Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service, Melbourne, Australia. https://www.vics.org.au/pics-resources
Kevin R. Krull, Kristina K. Hardy, Lisa S. Kahalley, Ilse Schuitema, Shelli R. Kesler (2018). Neurocognitive outcomes and interventions in long-term survivors of childhood cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology 36:21, 2181-2189
Mei C, Morgan AT (2011). Incidence of mutism, dysarthria and dysphagia associated with childhood posterior fossa tumour. Childs Nervous System. 27(7):1129-1136
Taylor OD, Ware RS, Weir KA (2012) Speech pathology services to children with cancer and nonmalignant hematological disorders. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 29(2):98-108.
Lewis FM, Murdoch BE, Docking KM (2011). An investigation of general and high-level language skills in children treated with central nervous system-targeted chemotherapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Journal of Medical Speech Language Pathology. 19(2):27-36
Docking, Kimberley & Hodges, Rosemary & Campbell, Lani & Chami, Sara & Knijnik, Stefani & Campbell, Emma & Paquier, Philippe & Dalla-Pozza, Luciano & Wakefield, Claire & Waugh, Mary-Clare & Messina, Maria & Morgan, Angela. (2020). Clinical Practice Guideline for the Management of Communication and Swallowing following Childhood Brain Tumour and Leukaemia.
Chami, S., Hodges, R., Campbell, E., Knijnik, S. R., & Docking, K. (2021). Communication and swallowing management in childhood brain tumour or leukaemia: A survey of health professionals and consumers. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 24(4), 395–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2021.1987520
Kolhoff S.M, Krueger B.I, Imgrund C.M (2023) Speech-Language Pathology Services in Paediatric Cancer: Survey and interview data on caregiver experiences. Seminars in Speech and Language; 44(01): 004-014DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1756682
Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (2023). Capability Framework for Victorian Children’s Cancer Services. 3rd ed. Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service, Melbourne, Australia. https://www.vics.org.au/pics-resources
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Siew-Lian Crossley is a speech pathologist who has over 20 years' experience working in hospitals with infants and children with a range of complex health conditions. Siew-Lian is currently working at The Royal Children's Hospital as a senior speech pathologist.
In 2022, Siew-Lian piloted a novel speech pathology service embedded in Monash Children's Cancer Centre for 12 months. The project was successful in attracting permanent funding. Siew-Lian is interested in engaging in research that improves the communication and swallowing outcomes of children with cancer, both during treatment and into survivorship"
The information contained in this program is current at of the time of publishing but is subject to changes made without notice.
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