EN
TÜRKÇE
Poster - 39
Support of EA children through a network of speech-language professionals. The NEST project.
S Bergmann*, O Muensterer*, J Seifried**, A Widenmann**
*Department of Pediatric Surgery, Dr. von Hauner Children´s Hospital, LMU Hospital Munich
**KEKS e.V., Stuttgart
Purpose
Esophageal atresia (EA) patients should be treated in centers that offer specialized care in pediatric surgery, gastroenterology and pulmonology. At the same time, it is important for the patient and families to receive appropriate local care. This is particularly important for dysphagia therapy. While there are many outpatient dysphagia therapists practicing in the community, only few have specific expertise in treating EA patients. NEST was founded to bridge this gap. The Network for Eating and Swallowing Therapy (NEST) offers online meetings 4 times a year. The purpose is to disseminate specific EA knowledge among those who treat EA patients, and to discuss cases and questions on this topic. For asynchronous learning, case discussions are archived in an online repository. As a result, outpatient and close-to-home dysphagia therapists can become qualified and encouraged in treating EA children by self-learning, with professional back-up as needed.
Method
An overview is given on the NEST (Network of Eating and Swallowing Therapy) initiative. Structure and aims of the network are discussed, and the feedback from participants is presented. Future perspectives and further developments of the network are proposed.
Conclusion
NEST, currently a network based in the German speaking area, will be introduced at INoEA as an example for quality management in EA treatment through support and coaching of local dysphagia therapists. This patient driven initiative has gained overwhelmingly positive acceptance, and should encourage other healthcare professionals to join, build up similar structures in other fields, and role out NEST networks in other countries as well.