None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The communication difficulties associated with aphasia, an acquired language disorder, can have significant negative effects on an individual’s quality of life and participation in healthcare decisions. Currently, Australian health practitioners are not trained in techniques for communicating effectively with people with aphasia. The proposed study will investigate the impact of a communication training program on people with aphasia, health practitioners and health practitioner students. It is predicted that the program will improve communication efficiency between the groups, increasing the involvement of people with aphasia in their treatment programs and healthcare decisions and potentially improving patient and staff satisfaction. The techniques gained during the program may also assist health practitioners to interact effectively with patients with other communication needs.
Interventions
The study will investigate the effects of implementing a communication partner training program on the communicative interactions between people with aphasia, health professionals and health professional students. The component of the study that involves people with aphasia will consist of single group design, with all people with aphasia receiving the training program. During the study, the people with aphasia will complete a training program which consists of 6 modules (based on the Communicat
The study will investigate the effects of implementing a communication partner training program on the communicative interactions between people with aphasia, health professionals and health professional students. The component of the study that involves people with aphasia will consist of single group design, with all people with aphasia receiving the training program. During the study, the people with aphasia will complete a training program which consists of 6 modules (based on the Communication Partner Training Program developed by Connect in the United Kingdom). The modules will focus on developing strategies to assist communication. The modules will be delivered as group sessions facilitated by a qualified speech pathologist and will consist of 6 1-1.5 hour sessions over 6 weeks or 2-3 3 hour sessions depending upon the needs of the people with aphasia. The component of the study involving the health professionals will consist of a single group design, with all health professionals receiving the training program. In contrast, the component of the study that involves the health practitioner students will consist of a randomised control trial (with half of the students receiving the training program and the remaining half of the students acting as an untrained control group). To ensure equality, the students who are allocated to the control group will be offered the training program at the completion of the study. The health professionals and health professional students will attend a single training session (1.5 hours in duration and facilitated by a qualified speech pathologist) at the end of the program (they will not attend any other training sessions). During this session, the people with aphasia will teach the communication strategies to the health professionals and students.
Sponsors
Emma Finch
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Other
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
The people with aphasia will have been diagnosed with aphasia by a speech pathologist. The health professionals will be health practitioners who are currently employed at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. The students will be second year or Graduate Entry Masters students who are currently enrolled in the speech pathology program at The University of Queensland and who have not completed block clinical placements with people with aphasia.
Exclusion criteria
For the people with aphasia, any individuals with severe comprehension or cognitive difficulties will be excluded. For the students, any individuals who have completed block clinical placements with people with aphasia will be excluded.
Outcome results
None listed