Transcript What Works
for children with speech, language and communication needs A library of evidenced interventions to support professional decision-making Background • What Works? aims to support practitioners to make informed choices about what interventions and training to use to support children’s speech, language and communication • What Works? is an online searchable database of interventions and training packages which gives information on the evidence base for each one • What Works? has been developed by The Communication Trust and the Better Communication Research Programme What else is What Works..? • A starting point... – To enable us to consider what works best for the children we work with and share good evidence based practice • A working document... – To be added to, commented on, enhanced by practitioners, academics and professional bodies • A tool... – To enable us to add to our evidence based practice, be more consistent, identify gaps 3 Why is it needed? The impact of SLCN • Large numbers of children have SLCN – it’s the most common childhood disability • Well rehearsed arguments on impact – SLCN affects literacy, self esteem, social interaction and attainment... The need of the workforce • Feedback from schools – they want information to support decision making • Feedback from Speech and Language Therapists – interventions and services need to be evidence based with clarity on outcomes Evidenced interventions...? We aimed for a balance and avoided... Just gold standard RCT A double blind randomised placebo controlled clinical trial....... Weak evidence The children had a great time... 5 Our approach... • Evidence based model – Good quality evidence of effectiveness – Expert advice – Informed professional opinion – Views of users; workforce/schools Website Growing... • What Works? has over *10,000 users registered and around 60 interventions included • What Works? has a new training section and a growing number of case studies to illustrate how it can work in practice • Access the website at : www.thecommunicationtrust.org.uk/whatworks *Oct 2015 How to use What Works? • Complete a simple registration form Finding what you’re looking for... • You will be able to search the database of evidenced interventions by: – Age range – Target group, according to types of communication need – Whether the intervention is at universal, targeted or specialist levels – Who the intervention is delivered by – The level of evidence NB The training section has its own micro site containing a list of packages evaluated Search outcomes • You will then be shown a list of interventions that meet your criteria Then what?... • And you can find out more detail about each intervention There is a range of additional information: – To set interventions in a wider context – Suggestions of key principles around working with children with SLCN, with the aim specific interventions aren’t seen as a “fix all” and to highlight the importance of the practitioner – For different audiences, such as teachers or commissioners – On interpreting the evidence provided 13 Sharing experience • One of the aims of the What Works database is to create a community for practitioners to share their experiences of using interventions Case Studies – How things worked in practice.... Anyone can submit a case study of an intervention or training in practise; more details of how to do this and guidelines on writing style are on the What Works site. Spread the word • Please help us spread the word! • We want as many people as possible to know about the site and to tell us what they think about it • We would be very grateful if you could pass information to your colleagues and peers through local, regional and national networks Ongoing development... • Continued feedback from website users helps us keep it interesting, relevant and useful • The moderating group ensure interventions meet set criteria to ensure independence and robust judgement • If you have an intervention or training package you want to be considered for the databases, please contact us 17 More information • For more information about What Works? please contact the Trust: Aafreen Kutub [email protected] 0207 843 2566