Elaine Duddy
Dr D. Hazlett
Dr J. Lambe
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Project background
Overall aim of investigation
Methods employed and associated ethical
issues
Work to date
References
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Being healthy
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Staying safe
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Enjoying and achieving
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Making a positive contribution
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Economic wellbeing
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‘Health is a state of complete physical, mental,
and social well-being and not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity.’ (WHO website )
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‘Wellbeing is broadly conceived to mean the
‘level’ of life quality – i.e. The extent to which
pleasure and satisfaction characterise human
existence and the extent to which people can
avoid the various miseries which are potentially
the lot of each of us’ (Andrews, 1974 , p280)
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Effective speech, language and communication
development is ‘a strong indicator of successful
adjustment in a variety of contexts including
mental health and wellbeing, emotional
development and educational attainment’
(Adamson-Macedo et al 2009 p192)
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‘In many ways our ability to communicate
defines us, it is one of the ways we are judged
and measured by others and the means by
which we forge our relationships’ (ICAN Report 2008
p3)
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Speech, language and communication needs
(SCLN) in the pre-school period constitute a risk
factor for poor school performance, educational
attainment and social difficulties in later life (Law et al
1998)
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Education is crucial to economic outcomes for
disadvantaged children in later life (Walker 2006) (cited in
Fuller 2010)
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‘51% of preschool providers recently surveyed cite
Speech and Language difficulties as the most
common difficulty that is evident in children
attending preschool provision’ (ETI Review 2007) (cited by NI SLT Task
Force Report 2008 p30)
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SLTs ideally placed to assess, advise and remediate
SLCN (Fuller 2010)
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Inclusion within SSLP service provision framework
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Role extended beyond traditional clinical one
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Ecological approach – ‘facilitating children’s
language development in the wider population’
(Fuller 2010 p184)
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Collaborative model of service delivery
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Flagship Labour government policy 19982010
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Sure Start Local Programmes (SSLP) - to
improve the life-chances of children under
the age of five living in areas of socioeconomic disadvantage by means of multiagency, multi-disciplinary programme
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SSLPs began in 2000
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Currently 34 Sure Start programmes
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Approximately one-third are rurally based
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For 2008-09 £16 million invested in N I SSLPs
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Accessed by 29,210 children under four years
and their families (Sure Start 2011)
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No original pilot study carried out
National Evaluation of Sure Start’s results to date
indicate modest impact
SSLP debate dominated by ‘adult concerns’ (Lloyd
2008)
Lack of rigorous evaluation at regional level
Evaluation and outcome measures used are highly
variable
Wide variation across the region in services provided
Current review of SLT service by DHSSPS
Current review of SSLP SLT service by DE
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To investigate the impact of Speech and
Language Therapy within the SSLP context
on the communication wellbeing of service
users (parents and children) from their
perspective.
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What evidence is there that Speech and
Language Therapy offered within the SSLP
context has impacted on the communication
skills of service users?
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What is the impact of Speech and Language
Therapy within SSLPs on the communication
skills of service users?
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To identify the impact of current policy on SLT service provision
within SSLPs NI
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To identify the causal relationship between SLT provision and
communication skills of Service Users
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To identify intervening variables impacting on this causal
relationship
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To compare and contrast the ‘communication progress’ of Service
Users
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To relate ‘communication progress’ to parental perception of wellbeing
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To make recommendations
 A policy impact study from the service users
perspective using a…
 2 stages:
Policy content analysis
Thematic content analysis
Policy content analysis
Quantitative
questionnaire with Sure
Start managers
Service report analysis
Data collection:
complete interviews with
service users
Stratified sampling
process
Selection of variables for
service user interviews &
development of
interview outline
Thematic content
analysis of interview data
Map themes to ECM
definition of wellbeing
Make Recommendations
Researcher objectivity
 Reliability & validity
 Awareness of constraints & biases
 Robust sampling framework
 Confidentiality process
 Consent process
 Complaints procedure
 University of Ulster ethical guidelines
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Task
Lit RV
Doc Analysis
Service report
analysis
SS Manager
Questionnaire
Defining
variables
Consent
procedure
Complaints
procedure
Ethical
approval
Interview
Design
Interviews
Data Analysis
Write up
F/M
12
A/M
12
J/J
12
A/S O/N
12 12
D/J
13
F/M
13
A/M
13
J/J
13
A/S
13
O/N
13
D/J
14
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Completed (44 credits):
Introduction to Project Management
Getting Published in the Social Sciences
Building Your Career; Adding Value to your PhD
Writing to Learn: Improving your Writing Skills
Academic Integrity: Avoiding Plagiarism
The Literature Review – Online
An Introduction to Research Skills – Online
Researchers in Residence Programme
Planning your Career
Introduction to the Career Development Centre for first year PhD Research Students
How to be an Effective Researcher
Developing Information Skills for Effective Research
Introduction to Refworks
Appraising Research Quality v2
Policy Evaluation Methods
Required:
- nVivo
- Statistics
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Literature Review:
- Historical policy context
- Current policy context
- International & national legislation
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Establishing links with services
Scoping service
Meeting with Childcare Partnership Co-ordinators
Meeting with AHP Commissioner
Working in Partnership with DE project
Access to secondary data
Demographic information
Development of Methodology
Rationale
Design
Framework
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Adamson-Macedo, E.N., Patel, R. & Sallah, D.K. (2009) An independent psychometric
evaluation od a speech and language tool for two-year-old children from a Sure Start
trailblazer site in the West Midlands. Child Language Teaching and Therapy 25, 191-214.
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Andrews, F.M. (1974) Social indicators of perceived life quality. Social Indicators Research
2(27) 279-299
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Every Child Matters (ECM) (2010) Department for children, school and families (DfCFS)
www.webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Fuller, A. (2010) Speech and language therapy in Sure Start Local Programmes: a surveybased analysis of practice and innovation. International Journal of Language and
Communication Disorders, 45(2), 182-203
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ICAN (2008) Speech, Language and Communication Needs and Primary School-aged
Children. I CAN Talk Series – Issue 6
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Law, J., Boyle, J., Harris, F., Harkness, A., and Nye, C. (1998) Screening for speech and
language delay: a systematic review of the literature. Health Technology Assessment, 2 (9)
NHS R&D HTA Programme
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Lloyd, E. (2008) The Interface between Childcare, Family Support and Child
Poverty Strategies Under New Labour: Tensions and Contradictions. Social
Policy & Society, 7 (4), 479-494
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Northern Ireland Speech and Language Therapy Task Force Report on
Speech and Language Therapy Services for Children and Young People (2008)
Improving outcomes for children and young people with speech language
and communication needs Belfast: DfHSS
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Sure Start (2011) Profile of Sure Start Projects within Northern Ireland July
2011
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Sylva, K., Melhuish, E., Sammons, P., Siraj-Blatchford, I. & Taggart, B. (2004)
The Effective Provision of Pre-School Education (EPPE) Project: findings
from Pre-school to end of Key Stage 1. www.dfes.gov.uk
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World Health Organisation (accessed 10/1/12) Definition of health
www.who.int
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Thanks for listening