Queensland Aphasia Research Centre (QARC)
Optimising the lives of people with Aphasia
Co-design of Aphasia Services
This project aimed to determine the priorities for Queensland Aphasia Services.
This included the priorities of:
- People with aphasia.
- Their friends
- Family and carers
- Speech pathologists.
What is the Co-Design project?
The co-design project sought to answer the question:
'What are the priorities of people with aphasia, their significant others, and speech pathologists for the development of aphasia services in Queensland?'
The project ran from June 2020–June 2023.
Learn more about the research process by downloading our illustrative graphic (PDF, 1.3 MB).
Outcomes
The project is now finished.
Three videos have been created to explain the outcomes of this project.
These videos were developed with input from the people with aphasia who were a part of the project.
Priorities for aphasia services
Experiences of people with aphasia and significant others
Experiences of speech pathologists
Priorities
Seven (7) priorities were identified.
These included:
- Better access to aphasia services.
- Aphasia alerts in medical charts.
- Training for how to talk to people with aphasia.
- Therapy tailored to the individual.
- Therapy options for longer term.
- Having a consistent member of the healthcare team.
- Support options for mental health.
Aims of the project
This project had two (2) phases.
Phase one
To talk with stakeholders about their experiences and ideas for aphasia services.
Stakeholders are the people involved with QARC. Stakeholders are:
- People with aphasia.
- Friends.
- Family and carers.
- Speech pathologists who work with people with aphasia.
These people are from all over Queensland.
Researchers worked with stakeholders to:
- Explore positive and negative experiences of aphasia services.
- Think about ideas for service development.
- Identify priorities for service development.
Phase two
- To work with representatives from stakeholder groups.
- To design new services. The design will use the list of priorities from phase one.
- To implement services into the Queensland Aphasia Rehabilitation Centre (QARC).
Media
Funding
This project was funded by:
- The University of Queensland
- The Bowness Family Foundation and an anonymous donor.
- Speech Pathology Australia.
- A National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Emerging Leadership Investigator Grant
Grant number (1175821).
Acknowledgements
We are grateful for the support of the Queensland Hospital and Health services (HHS) who supported this research:
- Metro North HHS
- Metro South HHS
- Gold Coast HHS
- Sunshine Coast HHS
- Darling Downs HHS
- Central West HHS
- Cairns and Hinterland HHS
- North West HHS
Team
Chief investigators
- Lisa Anemaat
- Professor Victoria Palmer
- Professor David Copland
- Associate Professor Sarah Wallace
- Geoffrey Binge (Geoffrey Binge, RBWH Cultural Capabilities Officer, has provided advice on the inclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, ensuring that this research is culturally safe and responsive)
This project has a Consumer Advisory Group which includes people with aphasia and family members.