Nearly five months ago, at the beginning of May, we began work on the LUNA project.
We’ve made good progress on Phase 1 of LUNA (the theoretical phase), and also started Phase Two (the SLT survey phase). We’ve built the webpage you’re reading this on, and set up our Twitter feed. We’ll be using both platforms to share our progress on the project, and also information about storytelling and aphasia. Make sure you’ve subscribed so that you receive our blog postings automatically to your email address, and don’t need to check in here for updates.
Developing a theoretical model for change: LUNA Phase 1
Phase 1 of LUNA is led by PI Lucy Dipper, and was the focus of May- July and is on-going (it’s not a small task!). The aim of this phase was to develop a model of change for LUNA assessment and intervention, based on empirical and theoretical work completed to date, and we are well on the way to achieving this.
Lucy and Madeleine P. have synthesised existing discourse intervention literature. Some of this work is listed on our links and references page, and will be feeding into the next phases of the project. We are looking forward to sharing our work from this phase – the first opportunity to hear about it is listed at the end of this post.
We also hosted international visitors: LUNA collaborators Professor Mary Boyle and Associate Professor Deborah Hersh came to London, and spent an intensive week working with us in July. We spent time at City, discussing facets of the project in-depth; celebrating the project start with our consultants with aphasia; and having our first whole-team meeting face to face (no mean feat for an international team stretching across three continents!). Free-range LUNA discussions also took place across London: in Mary and Deborah’s beautiful Islington home away from home; in local cafes over coffee and lunch; perambulating through the dappled shade of Highgate Woods; and in the yellow glow of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, curated by Grayson Perry. We’re a team that believe that stimulation and varied locations help the mind think through things differently. A busy week, in which we covered a huge amount of ground, and built a lot of project momentum.
SLT Survey: LUNA Phase 2
Phase 2 of LUNA is currently in progress, and is led by PI Madeline Cruice.
We’ll be working on Phase Two until approx. the end of December. So far, we have written the SLT survey, piloted it, obtained ethics approval, and the survey is now live. We are grateful to Dr. Lucy Bryant from the University of Technology, Sydney who helped us enormously when we were developing the survey, very generously sharing her recent survey of discourse practice in Australia. Our rationale for drawing heavily on her questions are they had been tested already in an international study, but very few SLTs in the UK had taken part. Our thanks to Dr. Sarah Northcott, Katie Monelly, Dr. Anna Caute, and Josephine Wallanger at City, University of London, in the early testing stages of the survey.
The LUNA survey will be live, until 15thNovember – please don’t wait to complete it, if you haven’t yet! The majority of our participants are reporting that the survey is quick to complete, and has taken them 15-20 minutes.
Upcoming
- We are delighted to be sharing our first output from the LUNA project in the Autumn. Lucy will be presenting work from Phase 1 of LUNA at the British Aphasiology Society Conference in November, in Sheffield
- Madeline C. will be sharing LUNA work with the Aphasia Institute in Toronto via webinar on 15th October