SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Commun.
Sec. Health Communication
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcomm.2025.1584169
Pedagogical interventions in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC): therapeutic benefits in healthcare and quality of life. A systematic review
Provisionally accepted
David Gómez-Asencio1
Francisco-Javier Gago-Valiente2,3*Cristina Arana-Álvarez1María-Isabel Mendoza-Sierra3,4
María-José López-López5Emilia Moreno-Sánchez1,3- 1Department of Pedagogy, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sport Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
- 2University of Huelva, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Huelva, Spain
- 3University of Huelva, COIDESO - Research Center in Contemporary Thought and Innovation for Social Development, Huelva, Spain
- 4Department of Social, Evolutionary and Educational Psychology, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain
- 5Department Clinical and Experimental Psychology, Faculty of Education, Psychology and Sports Sciences, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain, Huelva, Spain
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Introduction: the scientific literature was reviewed with the aim of to identify and synthesize empirical studies reporting the application of AAC strategies in hospital-based educational and healthcare environments for individuals with communication impairments. Methods: the article search was carried out in the WOS, Scopus and PubMed databases, and it was limited to studies published in the last 10 years. The study was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO), and its quality was evaluated with the Effective Public Health Practice Project (EPHPP) instrument. Results: among the 256 articles that were initially selected, only a total of 10 studies met the established eligibility criteria after performing a more exhaustive analysis with abstract and full text reading. The results show a positive relationship between the use of AAC and improvements in communication skills in the identified populations. Discussion: different AAC strategies can be applied and employed in people with communication difficulties, thereby improving their quality of life and that of their environment. Educational centres can be true learning scenarios to favour the maximum psychosocial potential of their students. Moreover, these resources can also be used with clinical and/or therapeutic purposes in healthcare.
Keywords: pedagogy, Augmentative and alternative communication, healthcare, Public Health, Education, quality of life Con formato: Fuente: Negrita Con formato: Fuente: Negrita Con formato: Fuente: Negrita Con formato: Fuente: Negrita
Received: 28 Feb 2025; Accepted: 23 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gómez-Asencio, Gago-Valiente, Arana-Álvarez, Mendoza-Sierra, López-López and Moreno-Sánchez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Francisco-Javier Gago-Valiente, University of Huelva, Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, Huelva, Spain
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