Tonight (10-11pm) I attended the editorial board meeting for Advances in Communication and Swallowing (ACS). https://journals.sagepub.com/home/csw. The journal editors Dr. Ciarán Kenny and Dr. Julie Regan are based in Ireland and ACS is the official journal of the Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapists (IASLT). It is a Q2 journal with a cite score of 1.1. It is a young journal and there is a lot of good will amongst the editors and editorial board.
Tonight I attended an editorial board meeting for Advances in Communication and Swallowing (ACS).
https://www.iospress.com/catalog/journals/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing
The journal is now indexed in SCOPUS. Currently submissions are from Europe - and they are wanting to diversify the content of the journal. There will be a special issue coming up on multilingualism. They also have capacity to promote SDGs - https://www.iospress.com/highlighted-sdg-content
Nicole McGill and I presented the Autumn Lecture for the journal Advances in Communication and Swallowing based on our program of work about waiting for speech pathology.
Title: Waiting list management in speech and language therapy services: Perspectives and innovations
Presenters: Dr Nicole McGill1 & Prof Sharynne McLeod1
Additional team members: Kathryn Crowe1,2, Suzanne C. Hopf1, Audrey Wang1, Nicola Ivory1, Emily Davis3, Katrina Rohr3, Angela Roberts3, Katherine Miller3, Sally Thornton3, & Nina Ahio3
Abstract: Waiting lists for speech and language therapy exist when supply does not meet demand. Waiting for services reduces service users’ access to early intervention and poses practical and ethical challenges for professionals to manage. This presentation will provide an overview of an extensive programme of research that explored: (a) perspectives of service users and professionals regarding speech and language therapy waiting lists; (b) speech and language therapists’ waiting list management practices throughout the world; (c) the design and development of an evidence-based website; and (d) the evaluation of the Waiting for Speech Pathology website in two community-based randomised controlled trials. Innovative management strategies will be presented. This research about waiting for speech and language therapy was published in the inaugural issue of Advances in Communication and Swallowing (Waiting list management: Professionals’ perspectives and innovations) and in other journals across the world. Free resources are available on the Waiting for Speech Pathology website: https://wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/our-services/speech-pathology/
Acknowledgments: New South Wales Health Translational Research Grant and Charles Sturt University, Australia
Link to the recording:https://www.iospress.com/catalog/journals/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing#extra
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8FO1t1Rrfs
Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing-autumn-2022-online-lecture-event-tickets-412156781027
Online handout: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cZ08ZqPbz8Je1A50FhQaghAa1SjZax8G?usp=sharing
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| McGill, Crowe & McLeod (2020) was the most cited article in IJSLP in the past 3 years |
I have been invited to present the Autumn Lecture for Advances in Communication and Swallowing based on our paper: Waiting list management: Professionals’ perspectives and innovations. Dr Nicole McGill is the first author of this paper, and worked with our team from Charles Sturt University to undertake a program of research about waiting lists. Our team includes: Dr Suzanne Hopf, Dr Kate Crowe, and Dr Cen (Audrey) Wang. I proposed that Nicole led the presentation and we summarised what we have learned about waiting lists from all of our research, focussing on the paper published Advances in Communication and Swallowing. What an exciting opportunity to share our work and potential strategies and solutions for managing speech and language therapy waiting lists.
The Spring Lecture for Advances in Communication and Swallowing was held in April with our Editorial Member, Prof Shaun O Keeffe (et al.) presenting their prize-winning paper on aspiration risk and risk feeding. Text about the spring lecture is on the journal page: https://www.iospress.com/catalog/journals/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing#extra and The video of the event is now online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSboOXREQ8k
The papers that have been written to describe this work are listed below. We also developed a website with colleagues from NSW Health: https://wnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/our-services/speech-pathology/
Tonight was the Advances in Communication & Swallowing Editorial Board Meeting was held tonight (starting 9pm my time).
The editorial board is now profiled here: https://www.iospress.com/catalog/journals/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing.
We are very proud that our paper is one of the first to be online in the journal Advances in Communication and Swallowing and look forward to their publication of their first issue:
McGill, N., McLeod, S., & Hopf, S. C. (2021). Waiting list management: Professionals’ perspectives and innovations. Advances in Communication and Swallowing, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.3233/ACS-210026
The following paper was accepted for publication today. It is the final paper to be accepted from Dr Nicole's PhD:
McGill, N., McLeod, S., & Hopf, S. C. (2021, in press August). Waiting list management: Professionals’ perspectives and innovations. Advances in Communication and Swallowing.
Here is the abstract:
BACKGROUND: Waiting lists for speech and language therapy exist when services do not meet demand. Waiting lists pose practical and ethical challenges for speech and language therapists (SLTs) and workplaces to manage, with potential flow on effects for children and families.
OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to describe SLTs’ perspectives about waiting lists for children with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) and explore waiting list management strategies.
METHODS: The present study reports on 187 SLTs’ written responses to open-ended questions in a questionnaire. SLTs were from nine countries, had an average of 12 years’ experience in the profession (range 0.2-45 years), and either currently or had previously worked with children. Data were analysed qualitatively using thematic analysis.
RESULTS: SLTs’ feelings about their waiting lists centred on three themes: (1) negative (e.g., “overwhelmed”, “stressed”, “anxious”, “embarrassed”); (2) neutral (e.g., “not too bad”, “okay”); and (3) positive (e.g., “manageable”, “proud”). Four themes related to waiting list management: (1) SLT service delivery (e.g., triage, use of technology in service provision); (2) workplace processes and policies (e.g., eligibility criteria, prioritisation); (3) SLT workforce actions (e.g., recruitment and retention of skilled SLTs); and (4) inaction (e.g., waiting list management was “out of my hands”).
CONCLUSIONS: Waiting lists can have negative consequences and many SLTs take action to manage waiting lists; however, waiting list management strategies are not necessarily effective which can impact children’s outcomes. There is a need to reimagine service delivery and identify effective actions for managing speech and language therapy waiting lists at a local and systemic level in order to optimise outcomes for children and families.
The first meeting of the editorial board of Advances in Communication and Swallowing (https://www.iospress.nl/journal/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing/) was held tonight (10pm my time, 1pm Irish time). This is the official journal of Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapy
Editors:
Associate Editors:
Editorial Board:
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| ACS Editors and Board Members (who were available and agreed to have their photos shared on social media) |
There will be 2 issues/year with the possibility of an additional special issue each year. The journal is receiving submissions for the first issue under their new name (volume 23).
I have been invited to join the editorial board of Advances in Communication and Swallowing https://www.iospress.nl/journal/advances-in-communication-and-swallowing/
This is the official journal of Irish Association of Speech and Language Therapy and is a "rejuvination" of the IASLT journal. The editors are Julie Regan and Irene P. Walsh
Aims: To publish original work of a clinical and/or theoretical nature in the areas of communication and swallowing To disseminate research of a high standard, nationally and internationally
