Speak Out December 2020

Research Grants

Queensland Registration Board Legacy Fund Grant 2020 EACH YEAR, TWO GRANTS ARE AWARDED TO SPEECH PATHOLOGISTS RESIDING AND WORKING IN QUEENSLAND. THESE GRANTS ARE ONE OF FOUR SCHEMES FINANCED FROM THE LEGACY FUNDS REMAINING AT THE CLOSURE IN 2013 OF THE REGISTRATION BOARD OF QUEENSLAND. THEIR PURPOSE IS TO SUPPORT RESEARCH INTO COMMUNICATION AND SWALLOWING DISORDERS ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN. WE CONGRATULATE THE SUCCESSFUL 2020 APPLICANTS, HELEN SMITH AND EMMA FINCH, AND LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING THE OUTCOMES OF THEIR RESEARCH.

Helen Smith Helen will work with her colleague Kym Dunstan to undertake this project. Using co-design to develop a supportive shared book reading environment within a vulnerable Queensland community centre. Evidence supports the importance of shared book reading to promote language and literacy development, with increased benefit shown for children from disadvantaged backgrounds (Shahaeian et al., 2018). While many literacy programs are available, not all of these incorporate shared reading or address the specific barriers identified as relevant to disadvantaged or vulnerable families. Further, community centres exist in areas of vulnerability to provide community support to disadvantaged families. However, there is little evidence regarding the opportunities that exist within a community centre environment to influence shared reading, particularly for disadvantaged families who often have poorer home literacy environments (Canfield et al., 2020). This research project will address existing gaps by investigating the current shared reading practices of families attending the Yarrabilba Family and Community Place (YFCP). Yarrabilba has been identified as an area experiencing high levels of vulnerability (ABS, 2017; AEDC, 2018). The research will utilise a co-design model and involve families and community members as authentic partners in the process. The use of a co-design model to engage families in the project will have important implications for the transferability of the study results as it ensures a two-way transfer of knowledge between researchers and consumers. It is anticipated that the information gathered from this research project will inform the co-design of a supportive environment that promotes shared reading among families attending the YFCP to positively impact on child language and literacy development.

Helen Smith and Kym Dunstan

Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS]. (2017). 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved from https:// quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_ services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/ SSC33237 Australian Early Development Census [AEDC]. (2018). Data Explorer: Yarrabilba, Beaudesert, QLD. Retrieved from https://www.aedc.gov.au/ data/data-explorer?id=137936 Canfield, C.F., Seery, A., Weisleder, A.,Workman, C.,Brockmeyer Cates, C.,Roby, E.,Payne, R., Levine, S., Mogilner, L., Dreyer, B., Mendelsohn, A. (2020). Encouraging parent- child book sharing: Potential additive benefits of literacy in health care and the community. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 50, 221- 229. Shahaeian, A., Wang, C., Tucker-Drob, E., Geiger,

V., Adriana, G.B., Harrison, L.J. (2018). Early shared reading, socioeconomic status, and children’s cognitive and school competencies: Six years of longitudinal evidence. Scientific Studies of Reading, 22 (6), 485-502.

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Speak Out | December 2020