Exploratory study of the teaching of neuropsychology in the curricula of undergraduate courses in Speech-Language Pathology

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To determine the level of teaching of neuropsychology within undergraduate courses of speech-language pathology in Brazil using an exploratory document analysis of the curricula of the undergraduate courses.

Methods

It is a quantitative exploratory document analysis. A review of available documents from websites and/or received from course directors (pedagogical course project, course content, and/or syllabus) of public and private universities in Brazil was carried out. Using an agreed consensus checklist, 3 researchers verified which universities offered subjects on neuropsychology by means of a search for the term ‘neuropsychology’ or neuropsychological’. Associations between type of university and region and the provision of neuropsychology courses were also explored.

Results

72 universities were included in the study and only nine of them offered subjects on neuropsychology. None of the associations tested was statistically significant.

Conclusion

The provision of neuropsychology for speech-language pathology undergraduate students is limited, and not associated with the type of university, the year of the pedagogical course project, or the region in which the university is located. The findings call attention to the need to adapt undergraduate curricula in speech-language pathology to consider the entire scope of this profession and address the epidemiology of communication disorders.

Keywords:
Language and Hearing Sciences; Neuropsychology; Higher Education; Cognitive Neuroscience; Neurology