Waiting and Access in Therapy - Understanding Perspectives in SLT (#WaitUpSLT)

  What is a research advisory group, and why should I get involved? A research advisory group is made up of people with lived experience who work alongside researchers to help guide and shape a project. By getting involved, you’ll have the chance to: ·        Influence how the research is designed and carried out —especially research focused on the views of speech and language therapy colleagues, children, and young people. ·        Be part of a  co-productive approach , where researchers and participants work together as equal partners. ·        Connect with others  who care about similar issues. ·        Learn more about how research works  and how your insights can make it better. Research is stronger and more meaningful when the people it affects are involved in shaping it - and that’s exactly what advisory groups are for. Wh...

Research should be designed and carried out in partnership with the communities that it seeks to represent.  WAIT-UP SLT therefore adopts a participatory research approach, centring the value of genuine and meaningful participation and direct collaboration with those affected by the issue under consideration  (Vaughn and Jacquez, 2020); in this instance: 1. children and young people 2. parents and caregivers  3.  individuals working within speech and language therapy teams .  A key element of the participatory research approach within WAIT-UP SLT is the recruitment of advisory groups  who will act as partners, inputting into the design, delivery, evaluation and dissemination of the project. What does being an advisory group member involve? You would be asked to attend online meetings with me and other advisory group members to discuss how the research should be designed, carried out, evaluated and shared. The meetings would take place over Microsoft Teams ...

It feels rather odd to be creating a whole post 'about me'; somewhat egocentric.  I do, however, believe that people should be able to know a bit about the people who are leading research studies and what they bring to the table.  Whilst research is frequently painted as an objective, arms-length affair, research can also be considered to be highly personal, with researchers often personally and professionally invested in the topic, methods and outcomes of their projects. Researchers are therefore encouraged to reflect upon what has led them to where they are now through an ongoing process of considering positionality and engaging in reflexivity (Shepherd et al, 2022). Part of this process has been and will continue to be reflected within my written work and through my conversations with supervisors but it's important to me to continue this process as I start to share this work more publicly. So, a bit about me. Despite having had speech and language therapy (SLT) support a...

Waiting and Access In Therapy - Understanding Perspectives in Speech and Language Therapy (WAIT-UP SLT) is a multi-stage research project that aims to explore perspectives and experiences of waiting in children's speech and language therapy services in England.  Whilst speech and language therapy waiting lists and times have long been a source of concern, there has been limited attention paid to this issue specifically within academic and published research. This project aims to address this gap by exploring the perspectives and experiences of: Individuals working within speech and language therapy teams (including speech and language therapists, speech and language therapy assistants, managers and services leads and administrative and clerical staff Parents and caregivers Children and young people Each phase will be designed in collaboration with advisory groups to ensure that the research is relevant, fit for purpose and as accessible as possible.  It is hoped that through t...