Congratulations to Sarah Bartlett who has had her first journal article accepted for publication from her PhD:
Bartlett, S. & McLeod, S. (2025, in press December). Caregiver-implemented Hanen® programs: A narrative review of programs for children with speech, language and communication needs. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology
Here is the abstract:
Purpose: Hanen® programs have been used by clinicians to support caregivers of young children with communication needs to learn optimal ways to respond in everyday interactions and facilitate child-oriented strategies that promote interaction and language. This review aimed to evaluate peer-reviewed literature regarding Hanen® programs for children with speech, language, and communication needs regarding the credibility, nature, quality, scope of the research, and outcomes of the research findings.
Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) protocol was used. Of 196 papers documenting Hanen® interventions, 57 papers met inclusion criteria. Studies were synthesized and evaluated to rate (a) credibility/ levels of evidence, (b) nature of existing research: efficacy, effectiveness, and perceived effectiveness, (c) quality of the studies, (d) scope of evidence, and (e) outcomes for each Hanen® program for children with speech, language, and communication needs.
Results: Credibility: Studies of Hanen® programs were reviews (7%), randomized controlled trials (17.5%), non-randomized controlled trials and mixed methods (31.6%), case-control or cohort studies (26.3%), qualitative reviews (1.8%) or employed qualitative methods (15.7%). Nature: The majority were efficacy studies (57.9%), others were perceived effectiveness (24.6%), and effectiveness studies (8.8%). Quality: Few studies were rated as high quality. Scope: Most studies related to two Hanen® programs (It Takes Two To Talk® and More Than Words®) conducted across eleven countries (Canada, USA, Spain, Turkey, Republic of Ireland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Australia, Hong-Kong, Singapore, Malaysia), and a few studies evaluated adaptations of Hanen® programs (e.g., telehealth). The studies reported on dyad interactions; child language, behavior, and autism; and caregiver perceptions, stress, and self-efficacy. Outcomes: Evidence supporting significant communication outcomes for different programs exists; however mixed results demonstrate a variety of language, interaction, acceptability, feasibility, and maintenance outcomes.
Conclusions: A range of evidence supports the use of Hanen® programs in its original format, with acceptability reported by families from target communities (e.g., middle class families) and educators (e.g., westernized countries). Effectiveness studies in real world contexts conclude that future research could evaluate content flexibility and adaptations to meet a diversity of families and communities. A precision family initiative (PFI) has been suggested to shift future research from does Hanen® work, to how can Hanen®-based intervention optimize outcomes for individual families.
