The impact of the telerehabilitation group aphasia intervention and networking programme on communication, participation, and quality of life in people with aphasia

Abstract

Results from this study suggest that the online delivery of a multi-purpose group intervention for people with aphasia can result in improved communication, communicative participation, and QOL. It also highlights the potential for intervention provided via telepractice to offer an alternative to face-to-face services.

A randomised trial of social support group intervention for people with aphasia: A Novel application of virtual reality

“…The fact that we recruited 34 participants from 67 screens (50.7%) suggests that people with aphasia are willing to take part in studies of remote intervention. This was similarly the case in Pitt et al [36] where over 67% of those screened progressed to intervention. Our participants were, on average, younger than typical stroke survivors [68].…”

“…There is growing evidence that telerehabilitation can be used to both assess [30,31] and treat [32][33][34] people with aphasia. While most applications of telerehabilitation have been delivered one to one, researchers in Australia have additionally explored the feasibility of delivering remote group therapy [35][36][37]. This team developed a 12 week (18 hour) programme of therapy called TeleGAIN, which aimed to improve communication related quality of life.…”

“…A pilot study and mixed methods phase 2 trial showed that TeleGAIN was feasible [35] and positively perceived by those who delivered the intervention [37]. Those who received TeleGAIN made significant improvements on a range of measures, including the Assessment of Living with Aphasia and the Comprehensive Aphasia Test [36]. However, the lack of a control group means that these gains cannot be attributed unambiguously to the therapy.…”

Technology‐enabled management of communication and swallowing disorders in Parkinson's disease: a systematic scoping review

“…Although this model enabled people with PD to access an SLT-led group session, they were still required to travel to a central point to achieve this. A recent study in aphasia has demonstrated the feasibility of delivering online group therapy to people with aphasia living in their own homes (Pitt et al 2018). In this study, multi-point videoconferencing was used to connect to participants in their homes.…”

Can telerehabilitation deal with cognitive disturbances in epilepsy?

“…Telerehabilitation has been developed a few decades ago aiming to overcome practical problems, such as a patient’s difficulty to reach the hospital, the lack of specialized centres in a patient’s place of residence, excessive costs of hospital management and incongruent timing of patients’ and health professionals’ activities. The need for intensive or prolonged treatments not feasible in hospital, the planning of home exercises and the need to address cognitive impairment in real life have also posed indication for telerehabilitation, providing prolonged benefits to patients with neurodegenerative diseases [ 6 ]. Recently, the use of telemedicine has become more and more important to public health due to coronavirus pandemic stimulating different telecommunication and digital technologies for cognitive, behavioural and psychological therapies.…”