REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE) Study

We are pleased to formally announce the launch of the RELEASE project. Funded by the UK Department of Health’s National Institutes of Health Research (NIHR) for 2 years, and in conjunction with the activities of the Collaboration of Aphasia Trialists (European Cooperation in Science and Technology Action IS1208), our international, collaborative project aims to explore the contribution that individual characteristics and intervention components make to the natural history of recovery and rehabilitation of people with aphasia following stroke.

We hope to inform insights to the design and delivery of therapeutic intervention and future research by utilising pre-existing aphasia to explore:

•       the natural history of language recovery

•       the stroke survivor, aphasia and stroke characteristics which are linked to language recovery outcomes

•       the components of effective aphasia rehabilitation interventions

Led by the NMAHP Research Unit at Glasgow Caledonian University and involving Dr RebeccaPalmer from the University of Sheffield, the RELEASE project will commence in November 2015, and will involve an international, multidisciplinary team of researchers from Australia, Finland, Netherlands, Sweden, UK and USA. RELEASE will include retrospective analyses of pooled, anonymised aphasia datasets to examine the predictors of recovery from post-stroke aphasia.

Deliverables will include:

•       The components of aphasia therapy that best facilitate recovery after stroke

•       The natural history of recovery from aphasia, with and without therapy

•       The individual factors that contribute to recovery from aphasia.

We welcome further collaboration from interested parties, and the contribution of further datasets to strengthen our analyses.  For more information or to join this project, please contact Cats@gcu.ac.uk

The RELEASE Team

www.aphasiatrials.org