Cuidados paliativos e fonoaudiologia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life of people facing a serious or incurable disease, through the prevention and relief of suffering and the treatment of pain and other physical, psychosocial and spiritual symptoms. In order to establish care at all levels of care, the participation of the multidisciplinary team is essential, with the speech therapist being an integral part of this team, preventing and minimizing problems related to swallowing and communication. Objective: To understand what palliative care is and how speech therapy can contribute to this approach. Methodology: This research consists of an integrative literature review, carried out by bibliographic survey in Portuguese with searches in the Google Academic and Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciElo) databases, published in the period between the years 2016 to 2021, using research related to palliative care and the speech therapy approach. Articles that were not within the defined period and those that were not in accordance with the research objectives were eliminated. Conclusion: In this way, the researchers concluded that the speech therapist contributes to reducing swallowing disorders, establishing safe oral feeding and preventing the risks of bronchoaspiration. Likewise, they also promote strategies so that communication can occur effectively and when there are no possibilities of verbal language, they can develop alternative and augmentative ways of communication, thus preserving the individual's autonomy and desire. Keywords: Palliative Care. Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. Deglutition Disorders. Communication. Quality of Life.