Chronic Aphasia: Life After Treatment

Conclusions
Aphasia Tables
1. Speech and language therapies are
generally effective for individuals with
acute and chronic aphasia
2. Many therapy approaches not well
described
3. Lack of well designed studies
Chronic Care
� PWA and their family often left without
meaningful or functional communication
when formal therapy ends (Vickers & Hagge, 2007)
� Chronic PWA and their family still seek
assistance or information (Fink & Swartz, 2000)
Caregiver Studies
� 6 Studies reviewed from 2004 to 2007
� 4 reported improvements in response to
treatment
� 1 reported no improvement
� 1 reported both
Caregivers of PWA
� 4/5 families in the US experience a family
member that requires lifelong care due to a
stroke (National Stroke Association, 2005)
� Most long term care for chronic PWA in
the home is provided by a spouse or adult
children (Hallowell & Chapey, 2001)
What Do We Know?
Caregiver Intervention
� Family education, training, and support
programs used to complement traditional
aphasia therapy (Sorin-Peters, 2004)
� Limited number of studies targeting
therapy outcomes for caregivers (Watamori,
Kobayashi, & Osada, 2007)
Conclusions
Caregiver Table
Therapy that acknowledges the role of
the caregiver of the PWA generally has a
positive impact on quality of life and
communication for PWA and their
caregiver(s)
(van der Gaag, 2005, Sorin-Peters, 2004)
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