Aim: To co-produce a method of evaluating the impact of creative music-making on the lives of people with aphasia (language processing difficulties acquired through brain injury).Rationale: We wanted to learn whether participation in music sessions benefited people with aphasia in ways that matter to them, rather than in ways that researchers might think are important. While co-production has always been central to the Aphasia New Music Group’s (ANMG) creative activities, this project focused on co-producing our evaluation of the impact of these activities.Journey: The project was initiated through discussions aimed at reaching a consensus on what participants valued about the music workshops. Through a collaborative process, themes were identified and validated by the entire team using a voting system to accommodate diverse communication abilities. The team considered various methods for collecting data and ultimately chose an adapted bullseye target as a tool for rating outcomes. This tool was trialled and refined after feedback from music-making sessions. Additionally, a video was created to document and share the evaluation process, with team members contributing and reviewing the content to ensure authenticity.Knowledge, experience and expertise: The lived/living experience team comprised 12 people with aphasia and a partner of a person with aphasia. A music and theatre producer with expertise in creative workshop facilitation, and two research Speech and Language Therapists were also part of the team. Guest musicians and filmmakers facilitated workshops and captured project footage.How we evaluated our work and what we found: To evaluate the impact of the music workshops we employed a participatory approach. Co-producing the evaluation required flexibility, patience, and ongoing reflection to accommodate diverse needs and insights.This involved:Theme Development: Initial discussions highlighted what the workshops meant to participants. These were summarised into themes through content analysis and validated via team consensus using voting.Evaluation Tool Selection: The team reviewed potential methods, settling on an adapted bullseye target divided into thematic segments with a rating scale from 1 to 10. This tool was tested in sessions and refined based on feedback.Video Documentation: Workshops, performances, and the evaluation process were filmed, with a final 7-minute video created, using iterative feedback to capture the project journey and findings.
