CLEAR Communication Team
Over the past 20 years, our collaborative partnership of clinicians, service leaders, researchers, educators, and decision makers from 6 collaborating organizations have focused on enhancing clinical expertise by developing clinicians’ listening and communication skills.
We have been focused on a program of integrated knowledge translation research that has included:
- Developing and validating a unique clinical listening measure [The Effective Listening and Interactive Communication Scale (ELICS), King et al., 2012]
- Developing authentic clinical simulations for effective listening and communication skills training, and
- Developing and testing an innovative inter-professional, comprehensive educational intervention to enhance the listening and communication skills of both novice and practicing clinicians.
We are interested in the development of clinical expertise and have found that effective clinical listening skills were a key factor in becoming an expert therapist and providing the best possible services to clients and families. We believe that communication and listening skills are core competencies for clinical and collaborative practice, and that these skills are essential to successful interventions and client satisfaction. Clinicians want families to feel “listened to” and understood.
A main goal of our “Listening” research partnership has always been to provide evidence-based and practical strategies for clinicians to enhance their clinical practice.
Gillian King, PhD
Gillian King, PhD
- Distinguished Senior Scientist, Bloorview Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada
- Canada Research Chair (Tier I) in Optimal Care for Children with Disabilities
- Professor, Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto
Gillian King also holds adjunct appointments in the School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and the Arthur Labatt School of Nursing (both at Western University), and in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University.
Gillian has held over 100 peer-reviewed grants, authored over 245 peer-reviewed articles, and has developed and published 22 measures for use in paediatric rehabilitation.
Her work focuses on psychosocial aspects of care, including client engagement, family-centred care, client and family resiliency, transition programming, and service delivery, including effective clinical listening and communication. Her current research focuses on client, parent, and therapist engagement in service delivery, the development of an up-to-date measure of family-centred care, the mental health and the participation of children and youth with disabilities, solution-focused coaching, and the role of resiliency in rehabilitation service delivery.
Michelle Servais, PhD, OCT
Michelle Servais, PhD, OCT
- Researcher, Quality Management, TVCC, London, ON
- Adjunct Research Professor, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders and National Centre for Audiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University
Michelle Servais focuses on bringing evidence to quality of care and supporting research in a clinical environment. She works with clinicians and leadership to develop integrated KT research and quality assurance activities that aim to enhance service delivery, develop professional expertise, translate evidence into practice, and improve the quality of life for children and youth with disabilities and their families.
Michelle’s research interests include: strength-based practices, family-centred care, relationship-centred practices, solution-focused coaching, interprofessional collaboration and learning, clinical listening and communication skills, professional development and educational interventions, KT, and the development of meaningful outcome measures in paediatric rehabilitation.
Sheila Moodie, PhD
Sheila Moodie, PhD
- Assistant Dean, Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Graduate Programs, Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Associate Professor, School of Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Director, Family-Centred Early Intervention Lab
Sheila Moodie’s research interests include: family-centred early intervention, integrated knowledge translation, and changing practice behaviour/implementation science. She is a Principal Investigator at the National Centre for Audiology at Western University. Her teaching areas include: introduction to interprofessional education and professionalism, counselling in audiology, and professional practice behaviours in audiology.
Tracy Shepherd, MA, SLP-CCC reg. CASLPO
Tracy Shepherd, MA, SLP-CCC reg. CASLPO
- Director, Centralized Equipment Pool, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, ON
- President, International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication
- Lecturer Status Appointment – University of Toronto
Tracy Shepherd is a Speech-Language Pathologist who works as a Clinical Education Coordinator and as a Director at the Centralized Equipment Pool (operated by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital) in Toronto, Ontario. CEP is funded by the Assistive Devices Program (ADP) of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term care. CEP provides AAC systems for lease and purchase to individuals who have communication disabilities. Her clinical interest area is in Augmentative and Alternative Communication. Tracy currently holds the position of President on the Executive Board for the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISAAC).
Tracy’s research interests span many areas including reliability and abandonment of technology, outcome measurement, interprofessional teamwork, listening and family impact.
Colleen Willoughby, M.Sc., OT
Colleen Willoughby, M.Sc., OT
- Manager of Clinical and Technical Specialty Services, TVCC
Colleen Willoughby is Manager of Clinical and Technical Specialty Services at TVCC including Specialty Medical Clinics, Augmentative Communication Service, Seating and Mobility Services, Acute Pediatric Rehabilitation Service and the ASD Diagnostic Hub. Colleen is an experienced leader, researcher, teacher, and clinician with a career serving clients and families in the areas of rehabilitation, mental health and autism spectrum disorders.
Colleen's research interests include the development of clinical expertise and clinical listening skills, program evaluation and client satisfaction. She has published in several peer-reviewed journals.
Linda Bolack, MSc, RS
Linda Bolack, MSc, RS
- Independent Consultant
Linda Bolack worked at TVCC for twenty years before her retirement in 2014. During her time at TVCC, she held a clinical position as an Occupational Therapist and moved into a leadership role as a manager, and then as the Director of Clinical and Technical Specialty Services. Linda has remained committed to working with this research team as an independent consultant on a volunteer basis.
Linda’s research interest is focused on clinical listening in paediatric rehabilitation.
Deborah Strachan, MRC
Deborah Strachan, MRC
- Independent Consultant
Deb Strachan is a past employee of the Child and Parent Resource Institute where she worked as a Program Delivery Manager of the Home Visiting Program for Infants. During her retirement she has continued to be involved in research related to the development of clinical expertise.
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