A new telehealth intervention, developed by researchers at La Trobe University, is improving access to crucial treatment for people with post-stroke language difficulties.
Aphasia, a language disability that arises after stroke, affects over 140,000 Australians. People with aphasia can have difficulty speaking, understanding speech, reading and writing.
One effective treatment, Multimodal Aphasia Treatment (M-MAT), involves small groups of people with aphasia practising their language through specialised card games alongside a speech pathologist.
Lead researcher, Dr John Pierce, says that while M-MAT is effective, it is not always accessible.
“Many people with aphasia can’t access M-MAT because they don’t live near a speech pathologist or other people with aphasia. In fact, due to limited resources, transport barriers or living rurally, many people with aphasia can't access any speech therapy at all,” he says.
To address this, Dr Pierce and his team have adapted M-MAT so it can be delivered via telehealth.
“We co-designed the program with speech pathologists and people with aphasia to ensure it would be highly practical while still maintaining the core therapeutic elements of the original, proven intervention.”
The result: A highly user-friendly and flexible solution that Dr Pierce believes will work within nearly any telehealth platform.
“The outcomes from our first round of testing have been very promising and participant feedback was positive.”
“If successful, this intervention will expand access to effective aphasia therapy, potentially improving communication outcomes and quality of life for many individuals who previously had limited access to such treatments.”
