The first ideas for her doctorate emerged in 2021, and she officially started her doctoral project at RWTH Aachen University in September 2022. The official supervision agreement was signed in autumn 2022. Prof. Dr Heim, head of the speech therapy and teaching and research speech therapy degree programmes at RWTH, will be the initial supervisor. Prof. Dr Norina Lauer from OTH Regensburg provided the idea for the doctoral project and is also a member of the supervisory team. Parallel to her doctorate, Christina Kurfeß continues to be active in research and takes on one teaching assignment per semester on the speech therapy programme at OTH Regensburg.
The content of her work is highly relevant: In her dissertation, Christina Kurfeß deals with the psychometric testing of the German version of the ‘Communicative Participation Item Bank’ (CPIB). This instrument measures the communicative participation of people with aphasia from their own perspective - an area for which there is currently no validated instrument in the German-speaking world. In a cross-sectional study with 122 participants, data on quality of life, depressive symptoms and social support were collected in addition to the CPIB. The aim was to test the validity and reliability of the CPIB in German-speaking countries - and to investigate whether the CPIB can be used to recognise indications of depression or reduced quality of life. If this is successful, the instrument could play a central role in the future not only in therapy planning, but also in the early detection of psychological stress.
The research idea arose from the PeerPAL project, a completed joint project between OTH Regensburg and KH Mainz, which also focussed on the quality of life of people with aphasia.
In addition to her scientific work, Christina Kurfeß has over ten years of practical experience in neurological rehabilitation - a background that makes her research particularly practical and application-orientated.
We are delighted about the funding and wish Christina Kurfeß every success and continued commitment and enthusiasm for research and teaching!
