We are delighted to welcome to new staff to the LUNA team. Carla Chynoweth and Sarah Johnston have joined LUNA this month. They are working on our knowledge exchange project during May, and take up their roles as Clinical Assessor and LUNA Therapist respectively from the 1st June onwards.

Carla Chynoweth

Twitter: @Carla_SLT

Carla is a Speech & Language Therapist who has joined LUNA as a Clinical Assessor for the final phase of the project. Furthermore, she is investigating the stability of personal narratives for people with aphasia for her Masters. Since qualifying from City with a Postgraduate Diploma in Speech & Language Therapy in 2018, she has worked in a community neuro-rehabilitation team within Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust for 18 months, working with adults with long-term communication and swallowing difficulties due to acquired and/or progressive neurological conditions. Carla especially enjoyed working alongside people with language difficulties to achieve something meaningful in their day-to-day lives. A fascination in the ways messages and stories shape our lives, communities and behaviours led Carla to obtain an undergraduate degree in Theology from the University of Durham, a Masters in Biblical Studies from King’s College London, and to work as an Internal Communications Specialist for four years. After identifying that working with individuals was a key part of job satisfaction, she retrained to work in the healthcare sector. Carla was attracted to the LUNA team because the researchers have shown commitment from the outset to collaborate with therapists and people with aphasia, and to facilitate the application of knowledge into action to make a tangible impact in clinical practice and in the lives of those with aphasia.

Sarah Johnston

Twitter: @SarahJo96348027

Sarah qualified as a speech and language therapist in 1997 from City, University of London. Her passion was always to work with adults with acquired communication disability, but with a special interest in aphasia. Sarah has worked with this client group across a range of NHS settings; acute wards including critical care, designated stroke units, a neuro-rehabilitation centre, and in the community. In addition to clinical work Sarah has been committed to supporting the development of environments conducive to supporting communication with people with aphasia. Within the NHS this has involved offering training sessions for other staff members, as well as being a member of the Trust wide ‘Accessible Information Group.’ Sarah has also taught the communication module for the Physiotherapy MSc at Brighton University. The opportunity to join the LUNA team as a treating therapist was really exciting for Sarah as she is passionate about promoting inclusion for people with aphasia and is therefore committed to a ‘Life Participation Approach.’ LUNA offers a framework which can be replicated in clinical practice to focus on participation goals and make therapy more meaningful.