Guidance for parents of children with Down Syndrome regarding feeding and communication: a literature review
Abstract
Objective: To carry out an integrative literature review to identify the main guidelines given to parents of children with Down's Syndrome regarding feeding and communication, as well as when they are given and by which health professional(s). Method: An integrative review was carried out, searching for articles published in the EBSCO, PubMed, Scielo and Lilacs databases, in Portuguese and English, between January 2013 and December 2023. The precepts and stages of the PRISMA method were followed to select and include the studies in the review and to present the results. Five studies were included in the review, all published in English between 2019 and 2023. Results: Among the included studies,1 study addressed guidance on communication, 3 studies on feeding, while no study addressed feeding and communication together. 1 study did not report whether specific guidance on communication and/or feeding was provided but considered information regarding SD health issues. The methods used to analyze parents' perceptions were interviews in 3 studies, a questionnaire, interview, form and application of The Family Quality of Life Scale (FQOL) in 1 study, and analysis of videos that parents recorded presenting their children while feeding to receive specific professional guidance in the last study. Difficulties were observed in knowing which guidelines were given, when and by which health professional, and most of the studies reported parental dissatisfaction about professional care. Conclusion: There are still gaps in the information that parents of children with Down Syndrome are receiving about feeding and communication skills, as well as the moment of guidance and the professionals responsible for it. The role of the speech therapist in providing guidance to this population has not been clearly described in the literature.
Keywords: Down syndrome, health professionals' skills, communication, feeding, parents.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Lucas de Souza Carinhanha, Mariana Barbosa Leonardo, Natália Cardoso da Silva, Nina Reis Uvo, Silmara Rondon-Melo
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