LifeCHAT: Speech pathologist, clinician or researcher
We are seeking health professionals to contribute to an innovative co-design project alongside researchers, individuals with aphasia, and their families – LifeCHAT.
Research has shown that speech and language therapy can be helpful in the short term, but it can be difficult for individuals to access sufficient therapy and maintain their gains. The overall aim of this research is to develop a smartphone application that people with aphasia can use to successfully self-manage their recovery. The app will help individuals access services, complete their therapy tasks, and monitor their progress. We want the app to be highly effective, practical, and easy-to-use. To achieve this, we are inviting people with aphasia, their families and carers, and health professionals who provide aphasia services to be directly involved in its development.
As the first step in this process, we want to understand the experiences and perspectives of health professionals who support people with aphasia to self-manage their treatment at home. The information you provide will help us identify key priorities for what the app will need to do in order to be useful and effective. Participation will involve:
- Providing some information about yourself including your age, gender, your clinical role, experience, and setting, and contact details including a phone number and email address.
- Participating in an online focus group with researchers and other health professionals. This discussion will take approximately 2-3 hours (including short breaks). Funding for backfill will be provided to employers to support the participation of staff during standard work hours, as required.
People in this study may also have the opportunity to contribute to the co-design of the application itself in the next stage of the project.
We are seeking expressions of interest from health professionals of any discipline who provide clinical services to individuals with aphasia and their families.
Please contact Megan Isaacs (m.isaacs@uq.edu.au) to enrol or discuss the research further.
You may also be interested in a Channel 10 News Story about LifeCHAT: https://habs.uq.edu.au/article/2021/10/app-track-and-improve-communication-recovery-stroke-survivors