An indepth exploration of an aphasia care pathway.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Aphasia care pathway for post stroke aphasia: People with aphasia, carers and Healthcare Practitioners points of view.
IRAS ID
113155
Contact name
Lynn Dangerfield
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Portsmouth
Research summary
The research plans to explore, in detail, the care pathway used for people with post stroke aphasia. Aphasia is the most commonly occurring stroke related communication difficulty. It is an impairment that reduces a person’s ability to understand and effectively use spoken and or written language due to damage to the key language centres in the brain. The persistence of aphasia is a significant obstacle to the rehabilitation progress and has a significant impact on quality of life, not only for the person themselves, but also their family, friends, colleagues and carers. Studies of long- term recovery from aphasia suggest that 45% of people still have a significant language impairment at 18 months post stroke, [Laska, Hellblom, Murray, Kahan, & von-Arbin 2001]. Clinical or care pathways are increasingly being used in health care settings as a structured plan of care, which can be easily shared with patients and families and designed to implement clinical guidelines and protocols. This study will explore an aphasia care pathway from the perspective of the key stakeholders, notably the person with aphasia and their families, Health Care Practitioners including Speech and Language Therapists [SLTs]. Data will be collected using focus groups, one to one interviews and a survey. The data will be analysed using a thematic framework, themes and categories will be identified and recommendations made. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyse the survey Findings will be written up in detail and disseminated.
REFERENCES
Laska, A. C., Hellblom, A., Murray, V., Kahan, T., & Von Arbin, M. (2001). Aphasia in acute stroke and relation to outcome. J Intern Med, 249(5), 413-422.REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0293
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jun 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion