The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many changes to our behaviour and communication. Whilst these changes affect us all in different ways, little is known about the specific effects on people with communication disabilities. This study addresses the impact of COVID-19 related lifestyle changes on the communication of people who stammer. From the findings, we have generated guidance and recommendations to better support people who stammer during and following the COVID-19 pandemic, and to plan for future events of this type.
Our full report provides more information on the project and our findings. We have also produced the above animation about the project.
The executive summary (overview) of the project:
The full report of the project:
We collaborated with the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and the STAMMA charity, on this project, which gathered the experiences of people who stammer, to learn about the impact of COVID-19 on their lives. The project had 3 parts:
We have now completed the analysis of 97 survey responses, 1912 contacts to STAMMA support services and 105 episodes of care from the RCSLT Online Outcome Tool, which has given us a comprehensive overview of the experiences of people who stammer during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our main findings are:
From these findings, we have produced recommendations to better support people who stammer following the COVID-19 pandemic, and during future similar events:
1. Work and education settings should support reasonable adjustments for people who stammer when remote working, where this continues in the longer-term, to reduce the negative impacts on participation and mental health.
2. Support offered should take account of individual needs and recognise the impacts on specific groups such as women and younger people.
3. Increased awareness of good communication practice, particularly in remote working, will be helpful for people who stammer as well as people who do not. For example, turn-taking in video calls appears more difficult than in face-to-face interactions.
4. Specialist SLT services have a key role to play in reducing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people who stammer. Services require adequate funding and staffing to meet this need. When planning future SLT provision for people who stammer, Clinical Commissioning Groups should consider the increased need related to the:
5. Charities like STAMMA are key in providing information and resources about stammering. They also represent a community, who offer invaluable peer support for people who stammer and expertise in raising awareness and educating others about stammering.
6. A more comprehensive examination of access to SLT during COVID-19 (for example, an audit of stammering services referrals and attendance).
Identifying areas of increased inequity accessing SLT, and considering the factors driving this trend, will be important to ensure that all people who stammer are able to receive the necessary support to mitigate the effects of living through the pandemic.
7. The period of transition out of the pandemic is an important opportunity to capitalise on the increased general awareness of the impacts of communication barriers, anxiety, and social isolation.
Stakeholders (SLT services, charities working with people who stammer, employers, educational institutions, researchers etc) can work in partnership to further promote awareness and understanding of stammering.
If you would like to get in touch to discuss the project or to provide feedback, please email Yvonne.Wren@nbt.nhs.uk
We will share further work from this project here, and on our Twitter account @Bristol_SLTRU