An International Perspective on Quality of Life in Aphasia: A Survey of Clinician Views and Practices from Sixteen Countries

Abstract

Objective: To gain an insight into speech and language therapists' perspectives on and practices in quality of life in aphasia. Participants and Methods: The International Association of Logopedics and Phoniatrics Aphasia Committee developed a survey questionnaire, which was delivered online, anonymously, through SurveyMonkey (November 2012 to April 2013) to clinicians working with people with aphasia in 16 countries across the world. Results: A large number of speech and language therapists responded to the survey, with 19/21 questions answered by 385-579 participants. Clinicians were well informed on what constitutes quality of life and viewed it as a complex construct influenced by health, participation, in/dependence, communication, personal factors, and environmental factors. In their clinical practice, they considered quality of life as important, used informal approaches to explore it and aimed to address quality of life goals; yet, the majority did not evaluate quality of life in a systematic way. Conclusion: There is a need for training on quality of life to help speech and language therapists incorporate quality of life outcome measures in their interventions. There is also a need for further research on which interventions improve quality of life in aphasia.

Factors Influencing Quality of Life Six Months after a First-Ever Ischemic Stroke: Focus on Thrombolyzed Patients

“…In clinical practice, it is important to have a broad understanding of the various areas in patients' lives that might have an impact on QoL. An assessment of QoL after stroke would offer a more holistic picture of stroke recovery from the patient's perspective [9,36]. Therefore, QoL assessment should be given greater attention in future research, especially in daily clinical settings.…”

How do speech-and-language therapists address the psychosocial well-being of people with aphasia? Results of a UK online survey

“…In terms of the current practices and beliefs of SLTs, a recent international survey ( n = 579) found that 74% of SLTs considered quality of life to be the main aim of aphasia rehabilitation (Hilari et al . ). In the UK, Brumfitt () found that 97% of SLTs ( n = 173) stated that psychosocial aspects were important or very important to their management of clients with aphasia; while an Australian survey found that 98% of SLTs ( n = 111) felt they had a role to play in addressing psychological well‐being (Sekhon et al .…”

‘I've got to get something out of it. And so do they’: experiences of people with aphasia and university students participating in a communication partner training programme for healthcare professionals

“…Despite the known prevalence and substantial impact of aphasia on the lives of PWA, a study conducted by Hilari et al . () into speech–language pathologists’ (SLPs) perspectives of QoL for PWA across 16 countries found that QoL outcomes measures are not routinely used in clinical practice. The main recommendation from this study was that health professionals (HPs) need education and training to ensure consideration of such measures for use with PWA.…”

“…In doing so, it is hoped that PWA will continue to live successfully with aphasia as the perceived health‐related QoL outcomes impacted by aphasia can be addressed (Hilari et al . , ).…”