BSLTRU Research Strategy and the way forward

The Bristol Speech and Language Therapy Research Unit (BSLTRU) opened in 1987 and over the last 30 years the range of projects and expertise within this well known Unit has expanded considerably to cover many different aspects of the care and management of language and communication impairments including:

• Assessments, outcome measures and screening tools
• Perceptions of communication disorders and therapy from differing perspectives
• Therapists’ decision making
• Therapy development and evaluations
• Development and evaluation of computer software for adults and children with speech and language disorders

The methodologies used by the Unit cover the range of health service research methods including:

• Systematic reviews
• Epidemiology
• Applied research
• Mixed methods – qualitative and quantitative

Our vision for the future

We will be a National Health Service Research Unit with an international reputation for collaborative and interdisciplinary research which ultimately impacts and benefits/improves outcomes for people of all ages with communication impairments and their families.