Table 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Population/setting

• Adult (age 18+) ICU patients and their communication partners (i.e., nurses, physicians, interdisciplinary clinicians, family members)

• ICU, specialized weaning centers, and high-dependency in patient settings

• Patients with an advanced airway (oral endotracheal tube, tracheostomy)

• Emergency department, postoperative recovery units, hospital floors/wards, psychiatry, long-term care, and home settings

Intervention

• Patient communication strategies including AAC (unaided strategies, aided strategies (low- and high- tech); voice restorative devices

Comparator

• Studies with comparison or no-comparison group will be included

Outcomes

• Stakeholder (patients and communication partners including nurses, physicians, interdisciplinary clinicians, family members)—reported barriers and facilitators to patient communication strategies

• Studies without stakeholder reported barriers or facilitators to patient communication strategies

Type of study

• All study designs

• Editorials, letters, protocols, reviews, education pieces, reports, working papers, government documents, white papers, and evaluations