Preliminary results from conversation therapy in two cases of Aphasia

Abstract

Background: Few studies have investigated conversation therapy between a person with aphasia and a clinician. Furthermore, little information exists on generalisation of impairment-based stimulation treatment to conversational outcomes.

Aim: The purpose of this preliminary study was to compare the effects of stimulation therapy and conversation therapy on conversational outcome measures in two cases.

Method: We employed a single-subject AB₁AB₂A design with randomised ordering of interventions across two participants. Primary outcomes included 6-minute conversations coded for discourse functions of an utterance.

Outcomes & Results: The participant who received stimulation therapy first demonstrated improved conversational outcomes after the first phase. The participant who received conversation therapy first demonstrated improved conversational outcomes after the first phase. Although improvements were made in each type of therapy, the highest gains in conversational production were during or following conversation therapy in either treatment order for both participants.

Conclusion: Both types of therapy produced gains in conversational abilities. However, the small number of participants limits the generalisability of this study. Future research is needed to determine which participants may benefit most from conversation therapy and to improve the clinical feasibility of conducting and measuring conversational therapy.

Keywords:

• Aphasia
• Aphasia therapy
• Conversation therapy
• Conversation therapy
• Stimulation therapy

Thanks go to the following people for their contributions to this study: COR Lab volunteers (Kelsey Copperberg, Allison Noto, Elizabeth Fall, Amanda Cross, Annie Schubert, Kristen Ferguson, Ashley Brower, Caitlin Brown); and student-clinicians (Dara Deroche, Erin Guillory, & Andy Riviere). Last, we could not have completed the study without the participants who generously volunteered their time to the study.