After many years working for the NHS, Joanne Burr and Caroline Coyne founded Communicate SLT to continue their important work supporting young children’s speech, language and communication development.

7 years later, the organisation had grown and the founding directors began looking for business and leadership development, Joanne signed up to the Health Innovation initiative at Lancaster University.

“It was great to be able to take some time out to consider health issues within our society and to be facilitated by such experienced business leaders. It was also a good opportunity to network and gain some valuable peer support and connections.”

“I really benefitted from the design thinking exercise; it provided a helpful framework for product development, with achievable steps to get from A to B. I have used the process within our business, and it even got a place on my noticeboard!” explained Joanne.

The workshop facilitated by Jacqui Jackson encourages health and non-health related businesses to come together over two days to discuss opportunities for innovation in health. Participants are introduced to the Design Thinking process that provides a structured approach to concept prototyping and testing of new ideas.

“Another key take-away from the workshop was stakeholder mapping. This was a worthwhile process encouraging me to identify influencers and those who it could be most beneficial to communicate with.”

At the time of the Health Innovation workshop, Joanne was also working with the digital support team on product development.

“I went into the digital support with an open mind, as we were interested in developing new products to support ourmission and aiming for greater diversity in income.”

“As an innovative team we’re constantly adapting our services and have created many useful resources that we use in our therapy. I was aware of certain gaps and areas of opportunity and was keen to increase our digital tools. However, my experience and knowledge of advanced technology was limited, and I was unsure how to move these ideas forward.”

Working with Stuart and the team, Joanne was able to effectively evaluate the viability of Communicate’s ideas and identified which problems could be solved with digital solutions.

“The team took me through a process of asking important questions which really made me consider our options and refine the product. Also, it was beneficial to hear the perspective of professionals outside the business, this shed new light on our ideas and ultimately helped me to single one out.”

The concept which Joanne and the digital team developed into a prototype is an online self-assessment tool for children and young people.

“Communication skills are important for learning and essential within relationships and the workplace, I was seeking a game-like activity where children and young people would have the opportunity to think about their communication skills for work and life.”

“I was also seeking a child-friendly tool that could be used within speech and language therapy to support children to communicate their feelings and viewpoint. It would enable them to build and share a profile that celebrates their strengths, whilst also establishing their communication priorities and future needs. Unless we listen to the child’s perspective from the beginning, we risk not having their motivation or engagement.”

Once the initial prototype was created, Joanne was able to take it to a local event for schools to test out. “It was invaluable to get real service user feedback, that endorsed the idea and enabled us to make an informed decision about the next development steps.”

Currently the team at Communicate SLT are making the final tweaks to the content of the assessment and are preparing for the launch and evolution of the product.

“I think it’s got great potential” Joanne explained. “both for use within speech and language therapy and also within Personal and Social Education within schools.”

The Health Innovation workshops are fully-funded through the European Regional Development Fund and available to Lancashire-based SMEs (eligibility criteria applies). To find out more about upcoming health innovation workshops and how to sign up for support visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/health-innovation/business or contact 01524 595005.