Aphasia in action: from evidence to everyday practice

The workshop will provide practical skills training in:

• Goal setting and clinical planning
• Delivery of common, evidence-based aphasia therapies
• Communication Partner Training
• Use of technology in aphasia management

The workshop will also incorporate the lived experience of people with aphasia.

Presenters

Dr Jade Dignam is a Certified Practicing Speech Pathologist and Research Fellow with the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, The University of Queensland and has 18 years’ experience in aphasia rehabilitation. Jade’s research aims to improve clinical outcomes for people with aphasia by increasing access to evidence-based intensive comprehensive aphasia therapy. Jade’s program of research has evaluated the development and effectiveness of the Comprehensive, High-dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT) program and she has worked extensively with speech pathologists across Australia to implement CHAT into clinical services.

Dr Kirstine Shrubsole is a speech pathologist and has over 15 years of clinical experience working in acute, rehabilitation and outpatient settings. She is now a Senior Research Fellow at the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre, The University of Queensland, with a specialty focus on implementation of evidence into practice. She has supported clinical teams to improve service delivery to people with aphasia in hospitals and health services across Queensland, NSW and Victoria. She is passionate about improving Communication Partner Training in health and community settings, and has trained speech pathologists, multidisciplinary team members, researchers, students and events staff across Australia.

Kori Ramajoo is a Research Speech Pathologist and Lead of the QARC Aphasia Tech Hub. Kori has clinical expertise in adult cognitive communication disorders and a research background in the neurobiological basis of language. Alongside the Tech Hub's individual technology consultations, skills training, and community groups, she leads its research program. Her research includes co-designing technology priorities with the aphasia community, accessible app design with industry partners, and developing interventions that build technology-based communication skills such as text messaging. Across service delivery and research, her work is grounded in task analysis, lived experience input and current evidence.

The Aphasia Tech Hub is led by Kori Ramajoo and includes consultants with lived experience of aphasia, Phill Jamieson and Kim Barron, and clinical-research speech pathologists, Pippa Evans and Jaycie Bohan. The Tech Hub’s vision is to make technology more communication accessible and to narrow the digital divide for people living with communication disability, improving self-management and autonomy through tailored accessibility support that clinicians can deliver. The Tech Hub offers individual technology consultations and skills training for people living with aphasia and health professionals across Australia.