Associate Professor Erin Conway
Associate Professor of Speech Pathology,
School of Allied Health
Areas of expertise: speech pathology; dementia and communication; aged care; aged care workforce; neurological communication disorders
HDR Supervisor accreditation status: Full
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1740-2562
Phone: +61 7 3626 7852
Email: erin.conway@acu.edu.au
Location: ACU Brisbane Campus
Erin Conway is an Associate Professor of Speech Pathology whose research is focused on healthy ageing, dementia and other neurological communication disorders, and aged care. Her work has investigated the impact of communication change on the experiences of people living with dementia, and ways to improve communication for people with dementia. Erin’s research also explores the interaction between communication and quality aged care services and practices, to co-design solutions for a sustainable quality aged care workforce. Ultimately her research aims to improve the accessibility of evidence-based communication support in aged care to improve quality of life.
Select publications
- Flanagan, K. J., Olsen, H. M., Conway, E., Keyzer, P., & Buys, L. (2025). It Depends on What the Meaning of the Word ‘Person’ Is: Using a Human Rights-Based Approach to Training Aged-Care Workers in Person-Centred Care. Journal of Ageing and Longevity, 5(3), 24. https://doi.org/10.3390/jal5030024
- McKenzie, C., Smith-Tamaray, M., Conway, E., & Flanagan, K. (2024). “Time is a Big Factor”: Aged-Care Workforce Perspectives on Communication Partner Training for Working with Residents with Dementia. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 43(12), 1824-1834. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648241255080 (Original work published 2024)
- Savy, P., Hodgkin, S., & Conway, E. (2024). Community aged care in Australia: the need for innovative programmes to boost workforce capacity. International Journal of Care and Caring, 8(3), 489-509. https://doi.org/10.1332/239788221X16813174808533
- O'Connor CMC, Liddle J, O'Reilly M, Meyer C, Cartwright J, Chisholm M, Conway E, Fielding E, Fox A, MacAndrew M, Schnitker L, Travers C, Watson K, While C, Bail K. (2021). Advocating the rights of people with dementia to contribute to research: Considerations for researchers and ethics committees. Australasian Journal of Ageing. doi: 10.1111/ajag.13023
- Mok, Z., Steel, G., Russell, C., & Conway, E. (2021). Measuring the interactions of people with dementia and their conversation partners: A preliminary adaption of the Kagan measures of support and participation in conversation. Aging & Mental health, 25(1), 13-21. doi:10.1080/13607863.2019.1671314
- Meyer, C. J., Koh, S. S., Hill, A. J., Conway, E. R., Ryan, B. J., McKinnon, E. R., & Pachana, N. A. (2020). Hear, Communicate, Remember: Feasibility of delivering an integrated intervention for family caregivers of people with dementia and hearing impairment via telehealth. Dementia, 9(8), 2671-2701. doi: 10.1177/1471301219850703.
- Sluis, R. A., Campbell, A., Atay, C., Conway, E., Mok, Z., Angwin, A. J., ... & Mai-Whelan, B. (2019). Conversational trouble and repair in dementia: Revision of an existing coding framework. Journal of Communication Disorders, doi: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105912
- Conway, E. R., Watson, B., Tatangelo, G., & McCabe, M. (2018). Is it all bleak? A systematic review of factors contributing to relationship change in dementia. International psychogeriatrics, 1-19. doi: 10.1017/S1041610218000303
- Swan, K., Hopper, M., Wenke, R., Jackson, C., Till, T., & Conway, E. (2018). Speech-Language Pathologist Interventions for Communication in Moderate and Severe Dementia: A Systematic Review. American journal of speech-language pathology, 27(2), 836-852. doi: 10.1044/2017_AJSLP-17-0043
- Conway, E., & Chenery, H. (2016). Evaluating the MESSAGE Communication Strategies in Dementia training for use with community-based aged care staff working with people with dementia: A controlled pretest-posttest study. Journal of Clinical Nursing. doi: 10.1111/jocn.13134
Projects
- Inspire and Thrive: Care workforce elevation program; 2025-2026; Buys, Flanagan, Conway, Olsen & Barlow. Funded by TAFE Centre of Excellence Health Care and Support Grant ($239,864)
- Increasing capacity of aged care workers, consumers and families to improve oral health; 2023-2025; Buys, Flanagan, Ansell, Short, Ansell, & Conway. Funded by Aged Care Research & Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA) Grant ($210,000)
- What do you say? Perspectives, priorities and recommendations to enhance communication reablement in dementia care; 2021-2023; Conway, Flanagan & Bennett. Funded by Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration Pilot Grant Scheme ($75,000)
- Putting the broken bits together: Improving Conversations about Care through Experience-Based Co-Design; 2021-2023; Wallace, Angwin, Conway & Torresi ($75,000)
- The use of supportive photographic menu tool for hospital inpatients with dementia: A mixed methods randomised controlled study; 2019-2022; Williams, Wenke, Hopper, Hughes, Rose, Conway, Lawrie, & Hopper. Funded by Gold Coast Health Collaborative Research Grant Scheme ($57,800)
