Development of a maturity model for demand and capacity management in healthcare.

Background: The aim of this paper is to develop a maturity model (MM) for demand and capacity management (DCM) processes in healthcare settings, which yields opportunities for organisations to diagnose their planning and production processes, identify gaps in their operations and evaluate improvements.

Methods: Informed by existing DCM maturity frameworks, qualitative research methods were used to develop the MM, including major adaptations and additions in the healthcare context. The development phases for maturity assessment models proposed by de Bruin et al.

How the communicative development inventories can contribute to clinical assessments of children with speech and language disorders.

Introduction: The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether information from the Swedish version of the Communicative Development Inventories III (SCDI-III) is informative to the Speech and Language Pathologist (SLP) when examining children with suspected speech and language disorders at a SLP unit.

Method: Parents to 50 children (25 girls, 25 boys, age 30-80 months) that had been referred to the local SLP unit completed the SCDI-III. Nine children came from multilingual families and 41 children came from monolingual, Swedish speaking homes.

An evaluation of a prescribed joint book reading intervention for preschool children with speech, language and communication needs.

The aims of the present study were twofold: first, to investigate reading and screen time habits in a large clinical sample of caregivers of children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) before and after an 8 week intervention focussed on daily joint book reading and, second, to capture the caregivers' experiences of the activity. Preschool aged children with SLCN and their caregivers were consecutively recruited during their first visit to the department of Speech and Language Pathology, Gävle County Hospital, Sweden. They participated in a survey-based interview before and after receiving an intervention with recommendations of at least 10 minutes of daily book reading with an interactional focus, as an add-on to ordinary speech-language pathology services.

The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) from a language perspective: an analysis of test interaction.

Assessment of language and cognitive abilities are associated with clinical challenges. The aim of the present study was to learn more about the MMSE test process from a language perspective by looking in detail at the interaction between patient and tester. In addition, we aimed to further explore the relationship between linguistic and cognitive difficulties.

A shift of treatment approach in speech language pathology services for children with speech sound disorders - a single case study of an intense intervention based on non-linear phonology and motor-learning principles.

Even though there are documented benefits of direct intensive intervention for children with speech sound disorders (SSDs), the intensity given at Swedish Speech Language Pathology services rarely exceeds once a week. Also, indirect therapy approaches are commonly employed. The purpose of the present case study was to investigate the effects of an intensive specialist therapy, based on non-linear phonological analysis and motor learning principles.