Swallowing, speech and voice impairments in head and neck cancer patients treated at a multidisciplinary integrated patient unit

What is already known on the subject Many HNC patients suffer from swallowing, speech and voice impairments which have a substantial impact on their quality of life. Nevertheless, many current clinical practices do not include SLPs as an integral part of the healthcare team. Moreover, there are no common guidelines for SLP therapy in this unique group of patients. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge In this study we provide a detailed demographic and clinical profile of a large cohort of HNC patients that were referred to SLP evaluation in a newly developed and designated IPU. We provide a comprehensive description of clinical interventions that were applied based on the location of the tumour and specific impairments related to it. Additionally, SLP therapy outcomes are described, showing a significant improvement in swallowing, speech and voice functionality. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Study results support the inclusion of an SLP in HNC patients' IPUs. The multidisciplinary healthcare approach enabled the provision of a tailored SLP therapy to the specific tumour types and impairments and proved efficient, resulting in favourable outcomes.