Natalie F. Douglas

Dr. Douglas is a professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Division of Speech-Language Pathology, at Central Michigan University. As a clinician-scholar, she is firmly committed to closing the research to practice gap, particularly for people living with acquired communication disorders from neurological disease. Dr. Douglas actively partners with speech-language pathologists to develop and test interventions that improve communication, life participation, and quality of life for people living with aphasia, traumatic brain injury, and dementia. She is currently studying how to improve communication between people living with dementia and their staff care partners in long-term care environments and pursuing additional training in pragmatic clinical trials and learning health systems.

Cert in Montessori for Education for Dementia, 2022
St. Nicholas Montessori College

Ph.D. in Neurocommunicative Sciences w/ Implementation Science Focus, 2013
University of South Florida

M.A. in Speech–Language Pathology, 2003
Ohio University

B.S. in Hearing Speech, & Language Sciences, Psychology Minor, 2001
Ohio University

• Communication and Person-centered Care for People living with Dementia in Nursing Homes
• Communication access in Healthcare Settings
• Implementation Science and Practice
• Organizational Systems

• Grandbois, K., McGrath, S., Penrod, S., Douglas, N.F. (2024). Cultivating a culture of evidence-based practice. Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups https://doi.org/10.1044/2024_PERSP-24-00030.
• Douglas, N. F., Wallace, S. E., Cheng, C. I., Mayer, N. C., Hickey, E., & Minick, K. (2024). A role for health literacy in protecting people with limited English proficiency against falling: a retrospective, cohort study. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2024.08.011.
• Hickey, E. M., Douglas, N. F., Hopper, T., & Bourgeois, M. (2024). Leading the way in dementia care: embracing the whole person. Seminars in Speech and Language. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0044-1788799.
• Annaswamy, T.N., Grover, P., Douglas, N.F., Poploski, K.M., Anderson, C.A., Clark, M.A., Flores, A.M., Hafner, B.J., Hoffman, J.M., Kinney, A.R., Ressel, K., Sanchez, J., Whitten, M.J., Resnik, L., McDonough, C. (2024). Relevance of learning health systems to physiatrists and its synergy with implementation science: a commentary. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. https://doi.org/10.1002/pmrj.13213.
• McArthur, C., Alizadehsaravi, N., Affoo, R., Cooke, K., Douglas, N., Earl, M., Flynn, T., Ghanouni, P., Hunter, S., Kalu, M., Middleton, L., Moody, E., Smith, C., Verlinden, L., Weeks, L. (2024). Effectiveness of physical rehabilitation on physical functioning and quality of life for long-term care residents with dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JBI Evidence Synthesis. https://doi.org/10.11124/jbies-23-00431.