Background. Preoperative anxiety complicates treatment and requires assessment by nurses in children. Children, with or without disability, are helped when pictures are used to support communication. The purpose of this pilot study was to test the reliability and validity of the modified short State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) using a modified Talking Mats method in children undergoing day surgeries. Method. A modified short STAI with pictorial support along the lines of the Talking Mats method was pre- and postoperatively administered to 42 typically developing children aged three to nine years. The parents assessed the children's anxiety, simultaneously and independently, by scoring the short STAI by proxy. Results. The modified short STAI showed moderate internal consistency and good construct validity in the age group seven to nine years. Conclusions. The results of this study support the use of the instrument for self-reports in children aged seven to nine years. Future research will explore the possibilities of also using this instrument for children with cognitive and communicative difficulties.

There is a lack of research on the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) in paediatric care, despite the fact that most children in need of AAC frequently need to visit hospitals and sometimes have to stay for long periods. The aim of this study was to investigate parents' experiences of the hospital visits with their children with communicative disabilities and to collect their ideas about how to optimize communication in this situation. Ten parents who had children with communicative disability took part in three focus group interviews. The analysis had a retrospective qualitative content theory. In the qualitative content analysis of the focus group interviews, 4 categories and 17 subcategories were identified. Overall, the results highlighted the importance of enabling direct communication between the child and the staff during the hospital stay. Parents of children with communication difficulties highlighted the importance of listening to their children and understanding their needs during hospital care and that hospital staff are in need of more knowledge in communicative disability and AAC to accomplish this. Training programmes for health-care professionals should be established to facilitate these requirements and connect to the United Nations conventions. Hospitals should provide and use AAC/communicative support.

<p>Keywords</p><p>early intervention, parental education, communication development, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC), parents' experiences</p><p>Abstract</p><p>The aim of this study was to evaluate parents and course leaders' experiences of the ComAlong early intervention course; a parental course about communication, communication development, play, responsive communication strategies and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). ComAlong targets parents of pre-school children with extensive communication difficulties and, at times, additional disabilities. Data consisted of course evaluation surveys filled out by 86 parents (57 mothers and 29 fathers) and one grandmother and interviews of four parents and four course leaders. Overall, parents were positive about the course. This was shown in ratings of 21 statements, in written answers to seven open questions and in the interviews. The total mean value for all statements was 4.4 (max 5) and the median was 4 or 5. The means for the 20 statements varied between 3.9 and 4.8 and half of all statements had mean values of 4.5 or higher. The mean value for the course (parents&rsquo; rating of the course on a 1 to 10 scale where 10 was the best) was 8.5 (Mdn and mode = 8, SD = 1.1). On the whole, parents and course leaders were satisfied. Parents learned about communication and AAC and experienced that communication with the child had changed to the better. In particular, parents appreciated meeting respectful and competent course leaders and other parents to children with varying disabilities. Information about the course before it started was a problematic issue. These and other findings are discussed with regard to early intervention for parents of children who use augmentative and alternative communication.</p>

The aim of this study was to develop and evaluate an instrument - the Responsive Augmentative and Alternative Communication Style (RAACS) scale Version 2 - to assess the communicative style of parents as they interact with their children using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). This scale was used to analyze play interactions between 43 parents and 28 children with different diagnoses (including Down syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disability), aged between 12 and 60 months. Parent-child interactions were observed both before and after parent participation in ComAlong, a training course on using responsive communication and AAC to support interaction with children. Based on an analysis of the results, Version 3 of the RAACS scale was developed and is recommended for future use. Analyses of Version 3 showed acceptable inter- and intra-coder reliability, and excellent internal consistency.

type of care implies effective communication from and by both the patient and the healthcare practitioner. This is often problematic in the case of the paediatric popula principle of universal design put forth in conventions and legislation means that the three different paediatric care settings where pictorial supports were applied uni is supported in paediatric care.