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On Thursday 16 October, Nicole ter Wal will defend her PhD dissertation ‘Capturing Patient Perspectives on Communicative Participation: A new Outcome Measure for Speech and Language Therapy’. In her doctoral research, Ter Wal developed MyCommunication-Adults, an instrument that enables speech and language therapists to identify the challenges adults with communication problems encounter in their daily lives.

Communicative participation 

Communication is something we do every day: with family, friends, acquaintances, or strangers. At home, at work, during sports, or while studying. Yet, communication is not always easy or natural for everyone. Difficulties with speech, language, voice, hearing, or cognition can make it hard for someone to fully participate. Treatment by a speech and language therapist, focusing on what is still possible, is essential to prevent social isolation, Ter Wal says.

For appropriate treatment, it is crucial to gain a clear understanding of communicative participation: a person’s ability to engage in everyday situations where communication plays a central role. To map this methodically, efficiently, and in a person-centred way, Ter Wal developed MyCommunication-Adults.

MyCommunication-Adults

MyCommunication-Adults is an item bank: a set of 42 questions about self-perceived communicative participation, to be completed by people who experience communication problems. This allows speech and language therapists to set goals that are truly meaningful to the individual and, in doing so, to deliver more person-centred care. 

Ter Wal created MyCommunication-Adults based on an analysis of existing questionnaires, conversations with 70 adults with various communication problems, and in collaboration with speech-language therapy professionals. The tool was subsequently completed by 500 patients to evaluate its validity and reliability. In addition to its use in speech-language pathology practice, the tool can also be applied in research on communication disorders in adults.