Our team member Jacinta Pennacchia has been hard at work adding to her body of research on improving the lives of people with complex communication needs, (CCN).

Her most recent study is a compelling paper on how researchers can engage more with people who have communication disability, who have historically been systematically excluded from participating in qualitative research.

The name of the article is “Making qualitative research accessible to people who have communication disability”

The conclusion of the paper put forward three pillars of inclusive research, proposed to be used in future studies:

• Participatory attitudes
• Flexibility and responsivity
• Consumer engagement

Other highlights of the research results include these five points:

• Inclusive research design and conduct enable research participation for AAC-users.
• Consumer engagement in research design and conduct drives communication access.
• It is crucial for researchers to hold participatory attitudes about AAC-users.
• Researchers must recognise the necessity of flexible and responsive study design.
• Direct examples from a primary study demonstrate actionable recommendations.

You can read the paper for free here.