Episode #52 - Developing an Online Communication Partner Training for Hospital Staff: A Conversation with Michelle Armour

During this episode, Dr. Katie Strong, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at Central Michigan University talks with Michelle Armour from the Northwestern Medicine Aphasia Center at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital about starting this program and creating a training program for healthcare workers to be better communication partners for people with aphasia..   Michelle Armour is a Speech-Language Pathologist, Master Clinician, and Program Lead Clinician of the Northwestern Medicine Aphasia Center at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in Wheaton, IL. She specializes in stroke rehabilitation with specific areas of focus on aphasia and apraxia. She has presented her work at the national level and is currently serving as co-chair on the Aphasia and Other Communication Disorders Task Force through the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine (ACRM) Stroke iSIG Committee. Michelle and her team were awarded the first Northwestern Medicine Innovation Grant made possible by Superior Ambulance Services to initiate the Northwestern Medicine Aphasia Center at Marianjoy. In this episode you will: Learn about how a clinician wrote and won a grant competition that allowed for the development of an aphasia center Hear how listening to a patient's story about her experience in the hospital inspired and led to the development of an online communication partner training for hospital staff Learn about how an interdisciplinary team used the Integrated Behavioral Model to develop the online communication partner training program. Download the Full Show Notes