Giant Steps Conference, Safer Care Victoria

Nicole McGill attended the Giant Steps Conference at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on 21-22 November 2019 to present research from her PhD. The conference was run by Safer Care Victoria and focused on the themes of leadership, health challenges, and delivering high-quality health care. Over 500 delegates were in attendance, including health care leaders and executives, researchers, clinicians, and consumers. Nicole presented a poster about the Active/Passive Waiting Study, a randomised controlled trial conducted in a community health centre in Victoria. The research was supported by a NSW Health Translational Research grant and conducted in collaboration with CSU researchers and NSW Health speech-language pathologists. 

 The abstract is here:

Randomised controlled trial evaluating provision of a website to promote active waiting for speech pathology

Authors: Nicole McGill (presenting), Sharynne McLeod, Emily Davis, Katrina Rohr, Katherine Miller, Nicola Ivory

Theme: Delivering high quality care

Abstract

Background: Children with communication difficulties sometimes wait over 12 months for speech pathology, missing the benefits of early intervention. Websites may encourage active waiting and improve children’s and families’ outcomes.

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of an active-waiting website on children’s outcomes and caregivers’ perceptions.

Method: Preschool-aged children (n = 97) referred to community health speech pathology were screened. Eligible children (n = 42) with speech/language concerns were randomly allocated to active waiting (provision of website; n = 20) or control (n = 22). Pre- and post-intervention outcomes were measured.

Results: One-way ANCOVA intention-to-treat and per protocol analyses were conducted, controlling for pre-intervention scores. There were no significant differences in children’s speech, intelligibility, language, and literacy, and caregivers’ empowerment and satisfaction between groups*.

Conclusion: All children received face-to-face speech pathology assessments following referral. Provision of a website in addition to assessment did not change children's outcomes or caregivers' perceptions.

*These results will be compared with another randomised controlled trial comparing access to either the active-waiting website, advice, or 12 sessions of therapy (McLeod et al., 2019).

Acknowledgements: The active-waiting website was funded by a NSW Translational Research Grant (2017/38). This research was supported by a Nadia Verrall Memorial Research grant awarded by Speech Pathology Australia in 2018. Support from Catherine Teskera, Carolynne Winbanks, Angela Roberts, Sally Thornton, and Nina Ahio is acknow