for children with speech, language and communication needs A library of evidenced interventions to support professional decision-making

Background What Works? aims to support practitioners to make informed choices about what interventions and training to use to support children’s speech, language and communication What Works? is an online searchable database of interventions and training packages which gives information on the evidence base for each one What Works? has been developed by The Communication Trust and the Better Communication Research Programme

What else is What Works..? A starting point... –To enable us to consider what works best for the children we work with and share good evidence based practice A working document... –To be added to, commented on, enhanced by practitioners, academics and professional bodies A tool... –To enable us to add to our evidence based practice, be more consistent, identify gaps 3

Why is it needed? The impact of SLCN Large numbers of children have SLCN – it’s the most common childhood disability Well rehearsed arguments on impact – SLCN affects literacy, self esteem, social interaction and attainment... The need of the workforce Feedback from schools – they want information to support decision making Feedback from Speech and Language Therapists – interventions and services need to be evidence based with clarity on outcomes

Evidenced interventions...? We aimed for a balance and avoided... Just gold standard RCTWeak evidence 5 A double blind randomised placebo controlled clinical trial The children had a great time...

Our approach... Evidence based model –Good quality evidence of effectiveness –Expert advice –Informed professional opinion –Views of users; workforce/schools

Website Growing... What Works? has over *10,000 users registered and around 60 interventions included What Works? has a new training section and a growing number of case studies to illustrate how it can work in practice Access the website at : *Oct 2015

How to use What Works? Complete a simple registration form

Finding what you’re looking for... You will be able to search the database of evidenced interventions by: –Age range –Target group, according to types of communication need –Whether the intervention is at universal, targeted or specialist levels –Who the intervention is delivered by –The level of evidence NB The training section has its own micro site containing a list of packages evaluated

Search outcomes You will then be shown a list of interventions that meet your criteria

Then what?... And you can find out more detail about each intervention

–To set interventions in a wider context –Suggestions of key principles around working with children with SLCN, with the aim specific interventions aren’t seen as a “fix all” and to highlight the importance of the practitioner –For different audiences, such as teachers or commissioners –On interpreting the evidence provided 13 There is a range of additional information:

Sharing experience One of the aims of the What Works database is to create a community for practitioners to share their experiences of using interventions

Case Studies – How things worked in practice.... Anyone can submit a case study of an intervention or training in practise; more details of how to do this and guidelines on writing style are on the What Works site.

Spread the word Please help us spread the word! We want as many people as possible to know about the site and to tell us what they think about it We would be very grateful if you could pass information to your colleagues and peers through local, regional and national networks

Ongoing development... Continued feedback from website users helps us keep it interesting, relevant and useful The moderating group ensure interventions meet set criteria to ensure independence and robust judgement If you have an intervention or training package you want to be considered for the databases, please contact us 17

More information For more information about What Works? please contact the Trust: Aafreen Kutub