Pilot trial of Intensive Language Action Therapy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the efficiency and acceptability of methods of delivering evidence based aphasia intervention (intensive language action therapy) to patients in the UK within the NHS: a pilot trial.
IRAS ID
210164
Contact name
Nicola Crook
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research and Innovation Services
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Aphasia is a communication disorder commonly acquired after stroke. Research suggests that aphasia improves the most when speech and language therapy is delivered intensively. Intensive Language Action Therapy (ILAT), which encourages use of language to make requests in a group of 3-4 people with aphasia of similar severity five days a week for two weeks, has shown to be a promising intervention (Cherney et al, 2010). However, this requires more therapy resources than currently available on the NHS. If Speech and language therapy (SLT) assistants or volunteers were able to deliver ILAT under the supervision of a SLT, it may be possible to make such intervention available to NHS patients. This study aims to: determine if it is possible to evaluate ILAT delivered by assistants and volunteers in comparison to usual SLT using a randomised controlled trial design; explore the feasibility of recruiting people with aphasia and allocating them to ILAT therapy groups; explore the feasibility of delivering ILAT using SLT assistants and volunteers; and determine the most appropriate assessments to use to measure the effectiveness of ILAT. We aim to recruit and randomly assign 32 people with aphasia to usual SLT care or ILAT. All participants will undergo assessments of their language ability and how they and their carers feel about their communication before they are randomised and four months after randomisation. People with aphasia, carers, SLT assistants and volunteers who participate in the study will be invited to participate in an interview to discuss their perceptions and experiences of ILAT delivered by SLT assistants and volunteers. People with aphasia who are assigned to SLT intervention will be asked about their experiences of being randomised to usual care. This study will inform the development and further evaluation of delivering SLT with sufficient intensity to people with aphasia after stroke.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/YH/0344
Date of REC Opinion
22 Sep 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion