Unspoken Voices: User perspectives on AAC equipment and services
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Unspoken Voices: What are the perspectives of people who use alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) on the impact and effectiveness of AAC equipment?
IRAS ID
227722
Contact name
Katherine Broomfield
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 29 days
Research summary
This study is part of a project that focuses on the perspectives of people who rely on alternative and augmentative communication (AAC), or communication aids, as a result of an impairment in their ability to speak. Communication aids include the use of strategies such as pointing to pictures, words or letters as well as the use of special equipment that can speak out messages entered into or stored within it.
The study aims to develop a greater understanding about why people do and do not use communication aids and how they view success with using them. The results of a literature review will inform the development of topic guides to facilitate interviews with people who use communication aids. The chief investigator will complete a series of interviews with young people and adults who use communication aids at different points across the AAC clinical pathway - from assessment and provision of equipment to the use of communication aids in people's homes, schools and communities. Information from these interviews will be used to understand what the main barriers and facilitators are to using communication aids and what people want to be able to use their communication aids for. A list of statements that represent the important outcomes from using communication aids, from the perspectives of the people who rely on them, will be generated.
A further stage of the study will be informed by these statements, with a separate IRAS application, to establish whether there is a consensus about the most important outcomes for communication aids amongst the population who rely on them. The ultimate aim of the whole project is to develop a patient reported outcome measure (PROM) to evaluate AAC equipment and services.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/YH/0001
Date of REC Opinion
5 Mar 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion