Psychosocial Aspects of Speech Therapy with Head and Neck Cancer Patients: Clinical Experiences, Communicative Skills and the Need to Train Speech Therapists in Oncology

Head and neck cancer patients suffer from high levels of psychological comorbidity and often do not receive adequate psychological assistance. Therefore, speech therapists are frequently confronted with specific psychosocial challenges beyond the scope of their standard professional education. The following aspects were examined via a mixed-methods approach to explore their own perceptions of these challenges and their skills to deal with them: 1) The experiences and problems of speech therapists working with head and neck cancer patients; 2) the self-assessment of speech therapistsʹ skills in cancer patient care; 3) the experiences and observations of psychologists supervising case discussions in oncology with speech therapists; 4) the communication skills of speech therapists working with emotionally distressed patients in oncology