APT Programme

APT

The Aphasia Partnership Training programme (APT) is funded by an NIHR Programme Development Grant, and sponsored by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It is  jointly led by Professor Rebecca Palmer from the University of Sheffield and Professor Madeline Cruice from City St George’s, University of London.

APT is co-designing and evaluating a novel Communication Partner Training programme for people with aphasia and their communication partners. The Sheffield CTRU will lead a randomised controlled trial in approximately 30 NHS speech and language therapy services.

Background

Approximately 40% of stroke survivors have the communication disorder ‘aphasia’ making it difficult to talk, understand what others say, read, and write. People with aphasia and their communication partners (family, friends, paid carers) cannot understand and support each other, leading to communication breakdown, frustration, distress, isolation and unhappiness for both people.

Communication Partner Training aims to improve communication between individuals with aphasia and their communication partners. Several small studies suggest that this can help, although better evidence is needed to confirm its effectiveness. Additionally, it has not been described in enough detail for speech and language therapists to provide it. Existing research and patient group discussions highlight that not many NHS patients and partners are offered this training. 

Research aims

• Develop a new Communication Partner Training programme and manual for NHS delivery to people with aphasia and their communication partners living in the community, in a programme called Aphasia Partnership Training (APT)

• Evaluate APT and its value for money

• Understand and develop resources to support the UK-wide NHS delivery of APT

Design and methods

• Work Package 1 investigates the UK implementation context of CPT delivery with a survey of current practice; iteratively tests feasibility, acceptability and fidelity of a novel CPT using process evaluation methods alongside case studies, pilot, and definitive phases of an adaptive trial; and designs implementation guidelines. 

• Work Package 2 develops the novel CPT and NHS speech and language therapist learning package through Experience-Based Co-Design with key stakeholders. The CPT and learning package will be refined following initial case studies. Further minor refinements may be made based on findings of the pilot phase of the trial. 

• Work Package 3 delivers a randomised controlled trial using an adaptive design to evaluate clinical and cost effectiveness of our novel CPT in ~28 UK NHS services randomising 336 dyads to CPT plus usual care versus usual care alone. The first 50 dyads will contribute to an internal pilot informing progression with the definitive trial. 

The following diagram illustrates how the 3 work packages link together: 

Get involved—SLT survey

The APT team are keen to hear from speech and language therapists who have worked for the NHS in the last 12 months. If that sounds like you, please take a moment to read the following from the APT team:

We are keen to hear your thoughts about communication partner training, so that we can understand what is currently delivered and what improvements are needed. By participating in our survey, you will directly contribute to shaping future communication partner training that improves the quality of life and outcomes of people with aphasia and their communication partners.

You can start the survey now and return to it at any time that suits you over the next four weeks. Your progress will be saved automatically on your browser.

Please share this with other SLTs who may also wish to share their views.

You have the chance to win a £50 Love2Shop or Amazon voucher as a thank you for completing the survey! If you’d like to enter the prize draw, please provide your name and email address in the separate form at the end of the survey.

We will also be running one-hour online focus groups to explore the same topic in more depth. These are open to both SLTs and SLT Assistants. If you would like to hear more or express your interest in taking part, please email: APT-Programme@sheffield.ac.uk

Get involved—Interviews

The APT team are keen to hear people’s stories about delivering or receiving communication partner training as part of NHS speech and language therapy. If that sounds like you, please take a moment to read the following from the APT team:

We are keen to hear your experiences and thoughts about communication partner training. By participating in the interviews, you will directly contribute to shaping future communication partner training that improves the quality of life and outcomes for people with aphasia and their communication partners.

• We would like to interview speech and language therapists who work in the community

• We would like to interview people with aphasia

• We would like to interview familiar communication partners (family, friends, neighbours, carers) of people with aphasia.

Most interviews will take place by video call (Teams or Zoom) and be recorded.

We are looking for stories from people with lots of different experiences, from different cultural groups, ethnic backgrounds, ages, living situations, and from all four nations of the UK. 

You will receive a £25 Love2Shop or Amazon voucher as a thank you for completing an interview!

This project has been granted formal approval from the Language & Communication Science Proportionate Review Committee (Reference: ETH2526-0221).

If you would like to take part, please contact Analisa Pais (analisa.pais@citystgeorges.ac.uk) and Madeline Cruice (m.cruice@citystgeorges.ac.uk) for further information. You can also write to the APT programme mailbox: APT-Programme@sheffield.ac.uk

Please share this information with other speech and language therapists, people with aphasia, and familiar communication partners you think might be interested.

Patient and public involvement

A PPI group of 11 diverse individuals, made up of people with aphasia and communication partners, will be involved throughout the programme. The group, led by Kate Sudworth will provide support and guidance to the study team on all aspects of the research.

PPI Group

Name	Stroke Survivor or Communication Partner	Time Post Stroke (at start of programme)
Kate Sudworth (PPI lead)	Family (wife)	15 years
Colin Lyall	Stroke Survivor	12 years
Meneka Sandhu	Family (daughter)	4 years
Karen Fawley	Family (wife)	3.5 years
Zoë Mitton	Stroke Survivor	3 years
Johnnie Mitton	Family (partner to Zoë)	3 years
Phil Skelson	Stroke Survivor	20+ years
Gita Ladher	Stroke Survivor	3 years
Neville Sankey	Stroke Survivor	1.5 years
Samya Whaites	Family (daughter to Neville)	1.5 years
Chris McKevitt	Stroke Survivor	6 years

Programme Management Group

PMG

Name	Role	Organisation	Email
Prof Rebecca Palmer	Chief Investigator PPI Lead Co-Lead of WP3 Professor of Communication and Stroke Rehabilitation Speech and Language Therapist	University of Sheffield	r.l.palmer@sheffield.ac.uk
Prof Madeline Cruice	Co-Chief Investigator PPI Lead Co-Lead of WP2 Professor of Aphasia Rehabilitation and Recovery Speech and Language Therapist	City St George's, University of London	m.cruice@citystgeorges.ac.uk
Prof Suzanne Beeke	Co-Investigator Innovative Methods Lead	University College London	s.beeke@ucl.ac.uk
Prof Ian Kellar	Co-Investigator WP2 Lead Innovative Methods Lead, Professor of Health Psychology	University of Sheffield	i.kellar@sheffield.ac.uk
Emma Gibbs	Co-Investigator	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	emma.gibbs@nhs.net
Dr Jo Coster	Co-Investigator	University of Sheffield	j.e.coster@sheffield.ac.uk
Prof Katerina Hilari	Co-Investigator WP3 Co-Lead	City St George's, University of London	k.hilari@citystgeorges.ac.uk
Dr Munya Dimairo	Co-Investigator Senior Statistician	CTRU, University of Sheffield	m.dimairo@sheffield.ac.uk
Prof Emma Power	Co-Investigator Joint-Lead of WP1 Professor of Speech Pathology, Speech and Language Therapist	University of Technology, Sydney	emma.power@uts.edu.au
Dr Madeleine Harrison	Co-Investigator Joint-Lead of WP1	University of Sheffield	madeleine.harrison@sheffield.ac.uk
Prof Nan Greenwood	Co-Investigator EDI Lead	City St George's, University of London	Nan.Greenwood@citystgeorges.ac.uk
Dr Sharon Adjei-Nicol	Co-Investigator EDI Lead	Canterbury Christ Church University	sharon.adjei-nicol@canterbury.ac.uk
Katie Biggs	Co-Investigator CTRU Lead EDI Lead	CTRU, University of Sheffield	c.e.biggs@sheffield.ac.uk
Prof Tracey Young	Co-Investigator Health Economist	University of Sheffield	t.a.young@sheffield.ac.uk
Kate Sudworth	Co-Investigator PPI Representative	N/A	cathrin.sudworth@sky.com
Elaine Scott	Programme Manager Support	CTRU, University of Sheffield	elaine.scott@sheffield.ac.uk
Sarah Wilkinson	Sponsor Representative	Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust	sarah.wilkinson71@nhs.net
Dr Analisa Pais	Research Fellow – WP2 Speech and Language Therapist	City St George's, University of London	analisa.pais@citystgeorges.ac.uk
Natascha Ullrich	Speech and Language Therapist	University of Sheffield	cm4nu@sheffield.ac.uk
Sienna Hamer-Kiwacz	Programme Manager	CTRU, University of Sheffield	s.a.hamer-kiwacz@sheffield.ac.uk
Dr Ann George	Research Associate – WP1	University of Sheffield	a.m.george@sheffield.ac.uk
George Cleaver	Programme Support Officer	CTRU, University of Sheffield	g.j.cleaver@sheffield.ac.uk

Contact

You can email the team at:
apt-programme@sheffield.ac.uk