The other research ... it's like guinea pigs ... they tell you what is about and really you can't change it.
—Participant B.G. from McMenamin et al. (2021, p. 6)
In this issue of Topics in Language Disorders, Guest Issue Editor Dr. Jacqueline Hinckley invited research teams to share work influenced by stakeholder engagement via Project BRIDGE, a PCORI Eugene Washington Engagement-funded stakeholder engagement effort. As guest issue editor, she carefully crafted this issue to cover various types of stakeholder engagement and various outcomes of this process.
First, Brancamp (2023) shares about the influence the project BRIDGE team had on her ongoing project related to posttraumatic growth in aphasia. Next, Szabo et al. (2023) describe the intersection of the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia with stakeholder engagement in aphasia research. Then, Off et al. (2023) describe their research, with students as engaged stakeholders further expanding the view and approach of stakeholder engagement in pedagogical research. The next two articles by Strong et al. (2023) and Madden et al. (2023) highlight the process and outcomes of stakeholder engagement in research about friendship and aphasia.1 Finally, Kim et al. (2023) describe how their team, which included multiple stakeholders, conducted a project about creating more aphasia-friendly retail businesses in their area. In summary, Dr. Hinckley and the authors of this issue (many of whom are stakeholders) provide multiple perspectives of the different strategies and approaches to stakeholder-engaged aphasia research.
—Sarah E. Wallace, PhD
—Gary A. Troia, PhD
Co-Editors
REFERENCES
Brancamp T. (2023). Posttraumatic growth in people living with aphasia: An experience in stakeholder-engaged research. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 5–18.
Kim E., Mauriks K., Wilson C., Auch L., Koo H., Swensrude D., Laccett J., Ruelling A. (2023). Barriers and facilitators to communication accessibility as perceived by people with aphasia. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 76–90.
Madden E. B., Therrien M., Bislick L., Wallace S. E., Goff-Albritton R., Vilfort-Garces A., Constantino C., Graven L. (2023). Caregiving and friendship: Perspectives from care partners of people with aphasia. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 57–75.
McMenamin R., Griffin M., Grzybowska B., Pound C. (2021). Working together: Experiences of people with aphasia as co-researchers in participatory health research studies. Aphasiology, 1–22. doi:10.1080/02687038.2021.1923948
Off C., Scharp V.L., Griffin-Musick J. (2023). Graduate student clinicians in health care professions as stakeholders in intensive comprehensive aphasia program (ICAP) implementation and research. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 30–42.
Strong K., Douglas N., Johnson R., Silverman M., Azios J., Archer B., (2023) Stakeholder-engaged research: What our friendship in aphasia team learned about processes and pitfalls. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 43–56.
Szabo G. B., Obermeyer J., Cauthorn A., Hornbostel M., Flacco J. (2023) Combining stakeholder-engaged research and the life participation approach to aphasia: A pilot survey on the aphasia group experience. Topics in Language Disorders, 43(1), 19–29.
