1 Communication changes following non-glottic head and neck cancer management: The perspectives of survivors and carers

2 Purpose: Head and neck cancer (HNC) survivors may experience functional changes to their voice, speech, and hearing following curative chemoradiotherapy. However, few studies have explored the impact of living with such changes from the perspective of the HNC survivor and their carer. The current study employed a person-centered approach to explore the lived experience of communication changes following chemoradiotherapy treatment for HNC from the perspective of survivors and carers. Method: Participants included 14 survivors with non-glottic HNC and 9 of their carers. All participants took part in in-depth interviews where they were encouraged to describe their experiences of living with, and adjusting to, communication changes following treatment. Interviews were analysed as a single data set. Results: Four themes emerged including: (1) impairments in communication subsystems; (2) the challenges of communicating in everyday life; (3) broad ranging effects of communication changes; and (4) adaptations as a result of communication changes