Background: Low-educated patients are disadvantaged in using questionnaires within the health care setting because most health-related questionnaires do not take the educational background of patients into account. The Dutch Talking Touch Screen Questionnaire (DTTSQ) was developed in an attempt to meet the needs of low-educated patients by using plain language and adding communication technology to an existing paper-based questionnaire. For physical therapists to use the DTTSQ as part of their intake procedure, it needs to generate accurate information from all of their patients, independent of educational level. Objective: The aim of this study was to get a first impression of the information that is generated by the DTTSQ. To achieve this goal, response processes of physical therapy patients with diverse levels of education were analyzed. Methods: The qualitative Three-Step Test-Interview method was used to collect observational data on actual response behavior of 24 physical therapy patients with diverse levels of education. The interviews included both think-aloud and retrospective probing techniques. Results: Of the 24 respondents, 20 encountered one or more problems during their response process. The use of plain language and information and communication technology (ICT) appeared to have a positive effect on the comprehensibility of the DTTSQ. However, it also had some negative effects on the interpretation, retrieval, judgment, and response selection within the response processes of the participants in this study. No educational group in this research population stood out from the rest in the kind or number of problems that arose. All respondents recognized themselves in the outcomes of the questionnaire. Conclusions: The use of plain language and ICT within the DTTSQ had both positive and negative effects on the response processes of its target population. The results of this study emphasize the importance of earlier recommendations to accompany any adaption of any questionnaire to a new mode of delivery by demonstrating the difference and equivalence between the two different modes and to scientifically evaluate the applicability of the newly developed mode of the questionnaire in its intended setting. This is especially important in a digital era in which the use of plain language within health care is increasingly being advocated.
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ion of verb agreement by hearing learners of a sign language. During a 2-year period, 14 novel learners of Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT) with a spoken language background performed an elicitation task 15 times. Seven deaf native signers and NGT teachers performed the same task to serve as a benchmark group. The results obtained show that for some learners, the verb agreement system of NGT was difficult to master, despite numerous examples in the input. As compared to the benchmark group, learners tended to omit agreement markers on verbs that could be modified, did not always correctly use established locations associated with discourse referents, and made characteristic errors with respect to properties that are important in the expression of agreement (movement and orientation). The outcomes of the study are of value to practitioners in the field, as they are informative with regard to the nature of the learning process during the first stages of learning a sign language.
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The aim of this dissertation is to examine how adult learners with a spoken language background who are acquiring a signed language, learn how to use the space in front of the body to express grammatical and topographical relations. Moreover, it aims at investigating the effectiveness of different types of instruction, in particular instruction that focuses the learner's attention on the agreement verb paradigm. To that end, existing data from a learner corpus (Boers-Visker, Hammer, Deijn, Kielstra & Van den Bogaerde, 2016) were analyzed, and two novel experimental studies were designed and carried out. These studies are described in detail in Chapters 3–6. Each chapter has been submitted to a scientific journal, and accordingly, can be read independently.1 Yet, the order of the chapters follows the chronological order in which the studies were carried out, and the reader will notice that each study served as a basis to inform the next study. As such, some overlap in the sections describing the theoretical background of each study was unavoidable.
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Background: Goal setting is an essential step in the clinical reasoning process of speech and language therapists (SLTs) who provide care for children, adolescents and adults with communication disorders. In the light of person-centred care, shared or collaborative goal setting between the SLT and client is advised in (inter)national guidelines. SLTs face challenges in implementing (shared) goal setting as theoretical frameworks and practical interventions are scarce and less applicable to use with a wide range of communication vulnerable populations. Aims: A first step in developing theory and practical interventions is to explore first-hand experiences of SLTs and clients about day-to-day goal-setting practice. This study was guided by the following research question:What are the perspectives and needs of SLTs and persons with communication disorders regarding (shared) goal setting in routine SLT services? Methods & Procedures: The qualitative study was carried out in the setting of routine speech–language therapy services in community practices, primary education and neurological rehabilitation in the Netherlands. Data collection followed the principles of video-reflexive ethnography, using video footage of goal-setting conversations to facilitate semi-structured, reflexive interviews.Data analysis was based on reflexive thematic analysis. A total of 12 interviews were conducted with client–SLT dyads, covering perspectives from children, parents and adults with a range of communication difficulties and their SLTs. Outcomes & Results: Data analysis resulted in four themes, of which two contain subthemes. Each theme represents a central organizing concept found in SLT and client interviews. The themes were identified as: (1) goal setting is a complex process; (2) goal talk needs to be communication accessible; (3) communicative participation goals are hard to grasp; and (4) the importance of relationships. Topics such as power imbalance, communication vulnerability, effective communication strategies, and motivation and trust are explored under these themes. Conclusions & Implications: SLTs are encouraged to view shared goal setting as a process that needs to be explicitly planned and communicated with clients regardless of their age or communication vulnerability. SLTs have expert knowledge and skills when it comes to supporting communication and applying these skills during goal talks might strengthen shared goal setting and foster a therapeutic relationship. There is a need to concretely conceptualize and embed shared goal setting in policy and clinical guidelines. The themes reported have tentative clinical implications for developing such policy, and shared goal-setting interventions for SLT practice, under the condition that SLTs and people with communication disorders are continuously involved.
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We have come to understand our world less and less, despite the countless one-liners (and slogans) that influencers and advertising people are constantly shooting at us via social media, among other things. We can no longer describe our world - it has simply become too complex for that. HBut marketing and communications people make it seem like plain language can convey any message, which, as this column argues, is absolutely not true.
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In this paper, I first discuss in some detail the current use of Learning Objects and show it to be wanting. Although their use, in principle, may offer much flexibility in creating content, in practice it will not, particularly since it does not support sufficient pedagogical flexibility. Then I offer an alternative view which, in my view, is indeed capable of fulfilling all the needs of customised learning, both the need for custom content and the need for custom pedagogies. I conclude by addressing some possible criticisms of my line of reasoning. This Chapter is a remake of Necessary Conditions for the Flexible Reuse of Educational Content.
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De Digitale Universiteit (DU) performed a quickscan to determine the usability of the IMS Question and Test Interoperability (QTI) specification as a format to store questions and tests developed for and by the consortium. The original report is available in Dutch from the website of De Digitale Universiteit. This is an unofficial translation in English of that report.
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OBJECTIVE: Ever since Engel's Biopsychosocial Model (1977) emotions, thoughts, beliefs and behaviors are accepted as important factors of health. The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief IPQ) assesses these beliefs. Aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt the Brief IPQ into the Brief IPQ Dutch Language Version (Brief IPQ-DLV), and to assess its face validity, content validity, reproducibility, and concurrent validity. METHODS: Beaton's guideline was used for cross-culturally adaptation. Face and content validity were assessed in 25 patients, 15 physiotherapists and 24 first-grade students. Reproducibility was established in 27 individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease using Cohen's kappa coefficient (K(w)) and the Smallest Detectable Change (SDC). Concurrent validity was assessed in 163 patients visiting 11 different physical therapists. RESULTS: The Brief IPQ-DLV is well understood by patients, health care professionals and first-grade students. Reliability at 1 week for the dimensions Consequences, Concern and Emotional response K(w)>0.70, for the dimensions Personal control, Treatment control, Identity, K(w)<0.70. A time interval of 3 weeks, reliability coefficients were lower for almost all dimensions. SDC was between 2.45 and 3.37 points for individual measurement purposes and between 0.47 and 0.57 points for group evaluative measurement purposes. Concurrent validity showed significant correlations (P<.05) for four out of eight illness perceptions (IPs) dimensions. CONCLUSION: The face and content properties were found to be acceptable. The reproducibility and concurrent validity needs further investigated
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What does collaboration in Dutch inclusive theatres look like, and what key themes can be identified? Data were collected through interviews and co-creative sessions with seven independent theatre makers and members of three participating theatre groups (n=48). Thematic analysis resulted in the proposal of a model that identifies six interconnected core issues central to inclusive theatre practices: the Atomium Model in which dynamic tensions of attracting and repelling forces exist. The study concludes that those involved in inclusive theatre are willing to continuously face artistic and collaborative challenges to fulfil their political ambitions and to dismantle prejudices and barriers. Plain language abstract: We studied the collaboration between theatre makers, actors with and without intellectual disabilities, and coaches in inclusive theatres in the Netherlands. We spoke with seven independent theatre makers and participants from three inclusive theatre groups and organised co-creation sessions. Through this research, we identified six interconnected themes that are essential to collaboration within inclusive theatre practices. These themes are characterised by inherent tensions, such as the balance between pushing personal boundaries for growth and respecting them for safety. We concluded that participants in inclusive theatre continually face artistic and collaborative challenges to achieve their ambition of dismantling prejudices and barriers.
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Communicative participation is the most important outcome of speech and language therapy, but there are no measurement instruments for children, adolescents, and young adults. This paper describes the development of MyCommunication-Youth: an item bank to measure self-reported communicative participation in children, adolescents and young adults with various communication disorders.
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