Children's Non-Verbal Toolkit Wins BSPD 2025 Outstanding Innovation Award
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- Published: Thursday, 24 April 2025 09:17
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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A new toolkit ‘Service Evaluation into the use of Alternative Augmentative Communication‘ aims to improve communications between the dental team and children with learning disabilities.
Consisting of a resource folder for clinicians to support non-verbal communication, it’s the work of Harriet McQuillan, Specialist in Paediatric Dentistry Birmingham Community NHS Foundation Trust, and its achievement has been recognised by the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry (BSPD) who’ve given it their Outstanding Innovation Award (OIA) for 2025.
The project was conducted within the Birmingham Community NHS Foundation Trust and it focused on assessing and improving the knowledge, awareness, and use of Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) in dental settings, for families with children who have additional communication needs.
The resulting resource toolkit was developed to assist clinicians in integrating AAC into their practice. The folder pulls together already existing resources and includes Widget symbols and Makaton signs, mood boards, and links to online resources and videos.
The judging panel which comprised members of BSPD’s executive committee, chose Harriet’s initiative as the winning submission because they could clearly see how these resources can help address the inequalities faced by children with learning disabilities when accessing dental care. Harriet’s initiative supports the spirit of BSPD’s mission which is to help vulnerable children and young people. In this instance, her focus on children with learning disabilities with the intention of ensuring that they receive the same standard of care as other children has their long-term oral health at its heart.
The solution she has delivered in the form of a resource toolkit for clinicians to support non-verbal communication, the judges felt showed an innovative and practical approach.
Dr Shannu Bhatia, BSPD President said: “Your initiative will make the experience of going to the dentist less stressful for children with learning disabilities, and help to encourage young patients to make regular visits and adopt a preventative oral health approach. The judges recognised your dedication to investigating and addressing a real need. I am very much looking forward to hearing Harriet’s presentation on her initiative at the BSPD 2025 conference in London in September!”
Clement Seeballuck, Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Dentistry School of Dentistry, University of Dundee, was also recognised for his submission to the BSPD OIA 2025 Award for his Dundee Dental Connect (DDC). This received the ’Highly Commended Award’ since the judges recognised that the Dundee Dental Connect initiative was also aimed at improving oral health inequalities.
DDC is a staff-student co-creation initiative that aims to tackle oral health inequalities with family and community-oriented interventions, including events covering topics such as caries prevention and dental visits. The events which he has run as part of this initiative are delivered in multiple languages, which aligns well with the spirit of BSPD’s mission.
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