Welcome to Better Communication CIC
Better Communication is a Community Interest Company - a not-for-profit organisation which was initially formed to support the implementation of change in the commissioning and provision of services for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) but has evolved to also work across other areas of need that benefit from the Balanced System® approach. Better Communication CIC is committed to enhancing the evidence base around the factors which really make a difference in terms of impact for people that benefit from a whole system approach across complex public sector systems.
Better Communication CIC was established by Marie Gascoigne in 2011 in order to provide a focus to bring together a team of associates with a wide range of expertise and backgrounds across therapies, in order to provide, commissioners, provider organisations, leaders and practitioners with access to training, advice and support to implement change. Research and building the evidence base is a cornerstone of the work that we do. Our work is needs led. We support when asked to support: providing external expertise, coaching and organisational change based on sound principles.
The Balanced System® Outcomes Framework and Core Delivery Principles is the evidence driven framework which has evolved over 25 years but has it's origins in the first nationale review of speech and language provision for children and young people in England and Wales in 1999. The core concepts were then developed through systems' thinking approaches in the early 2000's before being introduced in the RCSLT Position Paper authored by Marie Gascoigne in 2006 and then the formulation into the Balanced System including the Five Strands Outcomes Framework in 2008. The Balanced System Outcomes Framework and Core Delivery Principles are freely available to colleagues to inform their work in localities. One important point to note, however, is that it is a 'whole system' approach and therefore to achieve the outcomes and impact we have been able to evidence in some areas does require fidelity to the model and Framework - it is not designed for a 'pick and mix' if the impact and outcomes are to be achieved.
In the intervening years, the Balanced System approach has provoked interest beyond children and young peoples' speech, langauge and communication needs. The Outcomes Framework has been extended to be used to consider the response for children and young people with occupational, participation and physical needs, as well as pilots with services supporting people living with Dementia and a whole age community project seeking to improve the communication capacity and address needs across the age range from cradle to grave.
Impact measurement and the evidence of change in functional and real life experience for service users and their families is at the centre of the work we do. The Prove it! platform is being used by a number of services to support services, schools, settings, parents and carers to capture impact of support across the integrated system and generate examples of impact data that current standard LA or NHS systems do not capture. The prototype platform was developed with a feasibility grant from ICAN (now known as Speech, Language UK) and we are currently seeking to further develop this method of evidencing meaningful change for those receiving support.
The Balanced System® Schools and Settings accreditation scheme was established in 2014 in partnership with NAPLIC and Afasic. This provides a schools and settings based opportunity to understand their population need and their current response to that need, develop action plans for change and ultimately build a portfolio of impact evidence that can be accredited but in all events provides a solid evidence base of external scrutiny such as Ofsted.
In 2020, the Balanced System® Pathway Tool was developed as part of the Early Outcomes Fund project in the East Midlands with Nottingham, Derby and Leicester Cities. This has since expanded to include other areas who are using the Pathway as a means of supporting parents and practitioners to find the resources and advice most relevant to them in a coherent, curated online space.
Announcing the MOTIF Study: MOdelling Therapies for Improved Futures
We are excited to announce that a two-year, multiprofessional research collaboration, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research through the Policy Research Programme on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care, will begin on 1st March 2026.
Marie Gascoigne, Better Communication CIC, is the Chief Investigator together with Professor Vicky Joffe, University of Essex, as Co-Principal Investigator. The MOdelling Therapies for Improved Futures (MOTIF) study will take a population-based approach to identifying needs, understanding how provision from therapists is commissioned and delivered, and developing workforce models including a range of variables building on the Balanced System methodology.
The wider research team draws upon expertise across speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy as well experience of workforce modelling and commissioning across health and education sectors. Our team includes Dr Hortensia Gimeno, Clinical Academic Occupational Therapist, NIHR Advanced Fellow, and Reader in Child Health Research, QMUL who leads a mixed methods work package to inform the workforce model, Professor Reinhold Scherer, Professor of Brain-Computer Interfaces and Neural Engineering, University of Essex, who will contribute expertise in quantitative modelling and computer-based simulations, Dr Emma Pagnamenta, University of Reading, clinical academic speech and language therapist leading on our Young Person and Parent engagement and public involvement alongside Sophia Hill, a young person with lived experience of SEND as co-researcher. In addition, Sharon Tuppeny, Children’s Occupational Therapist and Maxine Darby, Children’s Physiotherapist join our team bringing extensive experience of service redesign as part of the Better Communication CIC team.
Our MOTIF logo has been designed by Sophia reflecting her lived experience in accessing therapies.
We shall be sharing more information about this important research as the project progresses. Pease visit our MOTIF webpage for updates
