• Pre-habilitation: It is a process on the cancer continuum of care that occurs between the time of diagnosis and the start of acute treatment and consists of assessments that establish a baseline functional level, identify impairments and provide interventions that promote physical and psychological health, in order to reduce the incidence and/or severity of future impairments. This includes counselling the patient and the family about the realistic speech and swallowing functional outcomes and prognosis post cancer treatment.
• Evaluation and Diagnosis: Patients with head and neck cancers exhibit speech and swallowing difficulties depending on the size, location and extent of the tumour. They need to undergo comprehensive evaluations, which involve a range of assessments including clinical speech & swallowing assessment, voice assessment along with the instrumental evaluations such as Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS/MBS), Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES), Videostroboscopy, etc; which provide detailed study of the speech and swallowing physiology. This aids prompt diagnosis.
• Treatment and Rehabilitation: Based on the evaluation findings, individualised treatment plans are developed to address the patient's specific needs, such as:
  • Speech Therapy:Targeted exercises and techniques to improve articulation, voice quality and thereby improving the overall speech intelligibility. For the patients undergoing total laryngectomy, alaryngeal modes of communication like tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis, electrolarynx, esophageal speech are targeted jointly by the SLP and laryngectomee volunteers (CRC team).
  • Swallowing Therapy:Exercises and maneuvers along with dietary modifications as well as compensatory strategies to ensure efficient and safe swallowing. FEES assisted swallowing rehabilitation is also carried out which helps in providing biofeedback to the patient.
• Follow-Up and Monitoring:Regular follow-ups are scheduled to monitor progress and make any necessary adjustments to the treatment plan. This ensures that patients receive ongoing support and care throughout their rehabilitation journey.

Overall, speech and swallowing services at HNCII aims to improve patients' communication abilities and promote safe and efficient swallowing, thereby, enhancing their quality of life.