One third of people have ongoing difficulties with speaking,
understanding, reading and writing after a stroke (aphasia). It is difficult to
provide face to face therapy beyond the
first few months due to limited resources, despite the fact that some people
are known to improve with continued language practice. The CACTUS project
(funded by the NIHR Research for Patient Benefit Programme and South Yorkshire CLAHRC) piloted an approach to enable provision of continued therapy for people
with aphasia. The approach included: input from a Speech and language therapist
to tailor computer exercises to the individual’s needs; independent use of the
computer programme StepbyStep©; volunteer support to use the computer and
practice new words in everyday conversation.
In the pilot study, 34 people with long standing aphasia
were randomised to using StepbyStep© for 5 months or continuing with usual
language activities through everyday conversation and support groups. Nearly all
(89%) of those eligible for the intervention expressed interest in self-managed
word finding training on a computer, suggesting a high level of acceptance of
the concept. Of the 16 participants on the project, 10 completed the training
per protocol of 20 minute sessions three times per week for five months. The
treatment group showed significant improvements in the percentage of words
named correctly compared to the control group. The pilot data suggested that
this approach is likely to be cost effective and researchers now applying for funding
to conduct a larger trial to assess this further.
[written by Dr Rebecca Palmer, please contact her on r.l.palmer@sheffield.ac.uk for more information]
No comments:
Post a Comment