It’s that time of year where we can look back and indulge in some reflection! 

The TANGO study began in September 2023 and runs until February 2026 so we’re just under halfway through. We’re coming to the end of Phase 1 and we’re gearing up to begin Phase 2. 

This year, the team has taken some great strides forwards:

We identified the active components in existing CPT programmes for people with cognitive-communication disorders

           Active components are the techniques used in interventions that aim to change human behaviour

           Spoiler alert – we found that existing programmes used dozens of active components!

We reviewed the literature to better understand…

           … the lived experience of cognitive-communication disorders and its impact on different aspects of people’s lives

           … and people’s perspectives after they received communication partner training (CPT) in other studies

We identified important outcomes for a new CPT programme:

            Our expert advisors with lived experience of cognitive-communication disorders suggested changes they would want, if they received communication partner training (CPT).

            This thought experiment produced a wide range of outcomes, from changes in communication to changes in emotions, from changes in roles to changes in social dynamics.

            These outcomes will be considered during codesign sessions to ensure the new programme is relevant. They will also help to ensure suitable outcome measures are selected.

We ran a 3-round online survey in the UK for Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs):

            SLTs were asked to identify which active components would be most important for the new CPT programme

            All the components which the majority of SLTs agreed were important will be put forwards for further consideration in codesign sessions.

Looking ahead

In 2025, we’ll embark on Phases 2 and 3. We are looking forwards to meeting with key stakeholders in the focus groups and codesign groups to coproduce the new CPT programme.

We’ll also be sharing what we’re learning with researchers and clinicians at conferences in the UK and abroad. Plus, we’ll provide regular updates on our website and social media so that everyone can follow our progress.

Thank you

We wanted to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported us this year.

We’ll be sharing more updates in 2025, but in the meantime, follow our progress on social media and by subscribing to our project website: https://blogs.city.ac.uk/tango/  

You can also follow us on social media: 

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