This session will discuss the current literature regarding patient-provider communication and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) across the lifespan with a special focus on its role in pediatric acute care settings. We will discuss education interventions trialed and data from my own research on the benefit of training for patient-provider communication with patients, families, and healthcare providers.

This will be an evidence-based, yet clinically relevant look into how our field has and can continue to support primary communication partners such as other healthcare professionals. We will discuss barriers and strengths identified in our work and present in many medical settings. We will propose ways that we can work to overcome them for the betterment of our patients’ communication, health, and quality of life.