Academic literature on the topic 'Adults with aphasia'

Aphasia intervention has made increasing use of technology in recent years. The evidence base, which is largely limited to the investigation of spoken language outcomes, indicates positive treatment effects for people with mild to moderate levels of aphasia. Outcomes for those with severe aphasia however, are less well documented and - where reported - present less consistent gains for measures of spoken output. In light of this issue for existing approaches, and due to the fact that non-speech focused interventions might therefore be more suitable, the current thesis explores the use of computer gesture therapy for people with severe aphasia. An initial review of gesture therapy is presented, followed by a systematic review of current computer therapy literature. A pseudo-randomised, wait-list control study of twenty participants with severe aphasia forms the experimental body of the thesis. The study investigates the effects of two purpose-built gesture therapy technologies: GeST and PowerGeST. The latter of these was developed for the purposes of the thesis. Following completion of a range of candidacy measures examining gesture comprehension, language, cognition and praxis, participants undertook a five-week intervention period comprising practice with GeST and PowerGeST. Primary outcomes were assessed using a measure of gesture production in isolation. Secondary outcome measures included an assessment of naming production, a novel assessment of interactive gesture abilities and an accessible computer use and confidence measure. These two latter measures were developed for the purposes of the thesis. Study outcomes show significant improvement in gesture production abilities for adults with severe aphasia following computer intervention. They indicate no transfer of effects into naming gains or interactive gesture. Findings reveal comparatively low levels of access to everyday technologies for this group. Outcomes therefore, indicate the positive effects of a purpose built computer-delivered therapy for a population who commonly experience challenges with access to everyday technology. Insights gained within this thesis offer encouraging results for computer therapy methods within this hitherto under-researched population and propose a case for further development of the evidence base in this field.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.<br>The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on November 26, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of the current investigation was to explore the effects of aphasia on working memory (WM) in bilingual adults. Available research supports the notion that there are strong positive correlations between WM capacity and language function in monolingual adults with aphasia and that aphasic adults' ability to comprehend language may be predicted by WM capacity. The relationship between WM capacity and auditory comprehension, as measured by the Token Test, was investigated in bilingual adults with and without aphasia. Additional areas of investigation included examination of the influence of aphasia on bilingualism and language proficiency as measured by differential performance in both languages on the Boston Naming Test (BNT); relationships between severity of aphasia, as measured by the Bilingual Aphasia Test (BAT); and WM, as measured by listening span. Sixteen participants between the ages of 26 and 91 were included in this study (mean age for women was 61.3; men was 52.8; 37% of the sample population was male, 63% was female). Eight participants were non-aphasic bilingual adults, the remaining 8 participants were bilingual aphasic adults. Results of the study indicated that both groups yielded relatively equivalent findings for the two languages on WM measures. Highly significant and strong positive correlations were observed between WM and auditory comprehension for both groups in both languages. There were no significant differences between English and Spanish results relative to auditory comprehension in the group with aphasia. There was, however, more variability on the BNT for the group with aphasia. Moreover, a significant difference between English and Spanish on the BNT was observed for the non-aphasic group. Significant relationships were found between language proficiency and aphasia severity for both languages; however, no significant differences were found between English and Spanish on the BAT. Nonetheless, moderate to strong positive linear relationships were observed between WM and aphasic severity (BAT) and strong positive relationships were found between language proficiency and aphasia severity for both languages for the group with aphasia. In conclusion, results suggest that the impact of bilingualism on WM for aphasic adults may be similar to what has been observed for monolingual aphasic individuals. Further research is needed relative to the nature of WM in bilingual adults with aphasia.

The purpose of this study was to determine if a scoring rubric developed by the investigator could differentiate scores on the Drawing Assessment Protocol (DAP) (Alarcon, 2007) for persons with aphasia and for persons with no history of the specific language disorder. From these scores, the study also sought to explore whether adults with aphasia perform differently on the DAP compared to adults with no history of acquired brain injury. Additionally, the study was designed to investigate possible performance correlations between how adults with aphasia perform on DAP and to the drawing section of the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (WAB-R) (Kertesz, 2006). Eight dyads containing six adults with aphasia and their communication partners as well as two dyads with no history of aphasia participated in the study. The two dyads with no history of aphasia were age and gender matched with two dyads in the aphasia group. The investigator obtained data from the administration of the drawing section of the WAB-R and DAP. The investigator rated the DAP drawings on the following measures: clarity, completeness, recognizability, and willingness to draw based the scoring rubric designed for this study. Scoring differentiation trends between the aphasia group and typical group indicated that the suggested rubric may be a beneficial scoring tool for the DAP. Parallels in scores between the WAB-R and DAP further supports this indication. Findings from this study warrant the use of the DAP and rubric with a larger pool of participants with aphasia in both research and clinical settings. Revisions to the recognizability measure should be made to help further differentiate scores along that measure.<br>Thesis (M.A.)--Wichita State University, College of Health Professions, Dept. of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Background: A social network is made up of the people with whom individuals make communicative contact throughout their lives. The socioemotional selectivity theory predicts that older adults selectively prune their social networks to make them more intimate and satisfying (Carstensen, 1992). Aphasia, a disorder that affects mostly older adults, has been found to reduce social network size. Prior research does not adequately address satisfaction with that change. Aims: The current qualitative study investigates the hypothesis that aphasia reduces social participation and satisfaction with social participation. Methods: Four people with aphasia and five people without aphasia were interviewed about their social network size, frequency of communication, satisfaction of communication, frequency of activity participation, and satisfaction of activity participation. We investigated the impact of factors hypothesized to affect these indices of social participation: aphasia severity, hearing loss, mobility status, and communication modalities. Results: The aphasia group reported smaller social networks, and less frequent social communication and individual and social activity participation. Social isolation was also reported by the aphasia group. Satisfaction of communication was roughly the same between groups. The aphasia group was more dissatisfied with activity participation than the control group. Conclusions: Individuals with aphasia had smaller social networks and less frequent activity participation than controls. This contributed to a perception of social isolation. Socioemotional selectivity theory may apply to the social communication changes in people with aphasia because results indicated equal dissatisfaction when compared to the control group. However, alternative hypotheses cannot be discounted. The aphasia group’s increased dissatisfaction with activity participation indicates an undesired change.

Aphasia impairs using and understanding language, and thus impacts on communication, identity and relationships. However, little research has investigated how people with aphasia understand friends and friendship. This Participatory Action Research (PAR) study explored how younger adults with aphasia experience friendship. Participants were 28 people with aphasia, some of whom were members of the Research Group. Data from 12 initial interviews in Phase 1 of the study led to a model of friendship and aphasia. This underpinned development of peer-led Friendship Events in Phase 2 of the study, after which 16 additional participants with aphasia were interviewed, contributing to elaboration of the model. Within the context of living with aphasia, which was central for all participants, eight inter-connected themes emerged. Friends could be anchors in a time of change and trusted stabilising influences while reconfiguring identity. Participants described the hard work of friendship, the place of communication in supporting friendship, and the challenge of equality within post-aphasia friendships. Time, humour and two-way flexibility were crucial in developing new kinds of friendship. Participants categorised a wide variety of relationships as friendship. These findings elucidate understandings of friendship loss and change as well as strategies to maintain friendship post-onset of aphasia. The study sheds new light on social connectedness and social support provided by friends, family and peers with aphasia. It emphasises the role of friendship in reconfiguring identity, and offers practical recommendations for harnessing the benefits of friends and friendship in life with aphasia. PAR methodology facilitated creation of accessible tools to support conversations and awareness-raising about friendship. The study highlights the strengths of relational methods for researching friendship and the transformative potential of doing PAR with marginalised groups such as people with aphasia.

Background: A previous systematic review found limited data regarding social participation in working-age people with aphasia (PWA). This population has many roles to fulfill, that are negatively affected by aphasia. A review of recent studies may reveal more information on the challenges in re-establishing social roles and thus may inform treatment thereof. Method: The aim was to provide an updated systematic review on social participation in PWA under 65 years of age. Studies from 2005-2017 were searched from Scopus, Pubmed and Psychinfo. Search terms were derived from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the Aphasia- Framework for Outcomes Measures (A-FROM). Aspects of domestic life, interpersonal relations and interactions, education and employment and community, civic and social life were investigated. Results: From 2,864 initial hits, 11 studies were identified, all of which were on the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Level III of evidence. The studies indicated that participation in domestic life is reduced and PWA showed reduced social networks, loss of friendships and changes in the quality of marital relations. Few PWA returned to work or spent time on education. Limitations in community, civic and social life were noted and there were contradictory findings on the impact of contextual factors on social participation. There was an increase in research into contextual factors impacting on social participation in PWA and in the use of conceptual frameworks in the last decade. Conclusions: Social participation in working-age adults is limited across the social domains. While the ICF conceptual framework is increasingly used, no studies used the A-FROM. There is greater use of standardised assessments and larger sample sizes.<br>Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.<br>Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology<br>MA<br>Unrestricted