ABC-PALS
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The Application of the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (BCTT) to Parent-Led Language Interventions
IRAS ID
236742
Contact name
Sarah Atkinson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundations Trust
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN13040944
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 5 months, 21 days
Research summary
Speech and language therapy for preschool children with language difficulties, centres around creating a language-rich environment. Parents are the providers of their children’s language environment in the early years, so Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) must train them in order to support their child. To understand more about how SLTs can best train parents, it is vital to know what exactly it is SLTs already do to support and train them. But the techniques SLTs use are only vaguely described in practice and in research studies.
There has been some work into making a clear list of all SLT techniques using the Behaviour Change Technique Taxonomy (BCTT), but so far, techniques used by SLT’s with parents have not yet been investigated in this way. Therefore, the first aim of this research is to identify the techniques from the BCTT which SLTs use when working with parents and their preschool children.
Student SLTs have been taught successfully using behaviour change principles and a remote video learning tool called Video Enhanced Observation (VEO). Applying this method to training parents may allow them to gain a more in-depth understanding of their role and the kinds of techniques they can use with their child. If effective, training parents remotely using VEO could eventually mean decreased costs and SLT resources. VEO could also provide an effective measure of how well SLTs and parents follow treatment procedures, which is an important and often neglected part of academic studies. Therefore the second aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the BCTT combined with VEO as a tool for training parents of preschool children with language difficulties.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NE/0164
Date of REC Opinion
13 Jun 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion