Professor Shelagh Brumfitt PhD, M.Phil, DipCST, CertMRCSLT (Hons), Reg HPC, Senate Award Fellow
Department of Human Communication Sciences
The University of Sheffield
31 Claremont Crescent
Sheffield
S10 2TA
UK
Tel: +44 (0) 114 222 2406
Fax: +44 (0) 114 273 0547
email : s.m.brumfitt@sheffield.ac.uk
Biography
Shelagh Brumfitt is Head of the Department of Human Communication Sciences and is a Professor of Speech and Language Therapy Education at the University of Sheffield and a registered speech and language therapist.
From 1997-1999 she was Chair of the Academic Board of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists and a member of several Royal College committees concerned with the education of speech and language therapists.
She has served as Sub Dean for undergraduate affairs for the Faculty of Social Sciences in this university from 2000-2003 and served on many Faculty of Medicine and Social Sciences committees, Senate and university working groups. She has national and international experience in external examining; at several different universities in the UK for the Speech and Language Therapy prequalification degrees and also for awards of higher degrees. Recently she has been involved with the evaluation of new speech and language therapy degrees in various European Universities.
Awards
2006 Honours of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists for Distinguished service to the professional body
2007 Senate Award for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (sustained excellence).
Research interests
- Psychosocial effects of aphasia and other communication impairments; measuring self esteem, impact of communication impairment on social context
- Stammering and cluttering.
- Clinical/professional education; factors affecting progress, post qualification experiences.
- The psychosocial effects of communication impairment, specifically in the area of aphasia. She has developed a measurement of self esteem which is suitable for people with aphasia and which has been used widely in this country and internationally. It is now translated into Norwegian. Other interests include stammering and related fluency impairments.
Professional activities
I have been a reviewer for various Journals including: Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry; Aphasiology; Disability and Rehabilitation; Colin Whurr Publishers; International Journal of Language and Communication Disorders; British Journal of Medical Ethics.
I have supervised to successful completion, 14 higher research degrees at either M.Phil or PhD level. My other activities include 46 presentations at national and international conferences and workshops, including 2 keynote speeches.
The Visual Analogue Self esteem Scale (Brumfitt and Sheeran, 1999) has been used extensively in the UK, USA, Australia and a range of European countries. In 2006 this was translated into Norwegian and in 2007 I visited Norway in the autumn as an invited speaker to a Conference for Speech and Language Therapists in Oslo, Norway to present material relating to the VASES.
Current projects
- Factors affecting outcome during the first year post stroke for people with communication impairments.
- In progress: a book on ‘Psychological well being in the person with acquired communication problems’ (Wiley Press). Expected publication: late 2007.
- Stroke Theme: Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care Social participation in long term stroke http://clahrc-sy.nihr.ac.uk/theme-stroke.html.
Collaborators
- Speech and Language Therapy Department, Stroke Unit, Northern General Hospital, Sheffield.
- Dr Sue Baxter, Research Fellow Section in Public Health ScHARR, University of Sheffield.
Key publications
- Brumfitt, S.M. (ed) 2010 Psychological well being and acquired communication impairment. Chichester, West Sussex. Wiley-Blackwell
- (Brumfitt, S. M. & Gray, C 2009 The Speech and Language Therapist. In Doel, M and Sharrard, (eds) Practice Learning in health care
- James, S; Brumfitt, S.M; Cowell, P.E 2009 The influence of communication situation on self report in people who stutter. Int Journal of Speech-Language Pathology. 11:1 34-44
- Baxter, S. K. & Brumfitt, S.M. 2008 Professional differences in interprofessional working. J of Interprofessional Care Vol 22 Iss 3 June 239-251
- Baxter, S., K. & Brumfitt, S. M. 2008. Once a week is not enough: evaluating current measures of teamworking in stroke. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice, Volume 14, Issue 2, pp 241-247.