Living successfully with aphasia during the first year post-stroke: A longitudinal qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Studies exploring the concept of living successfully with aphasia have advanced the understanding of positive adaptive factors, which may inform clinical interventions provided to people with aphasia. Adaptation over time has been identified as a critical component of living successfully with aphasia. Yet, the experiences of individuals with aphasia and factors they perceive to influence living successfully over time remain ill-described. Longitudinal research might add an important perspective to existing literature in the area of living successfully with aphasia and provide clarification regarding the needs of people with aphasia over time.Aims: To describe the insider’s perspective of what is important to living successfully with aphasia and changes that occur throughout the first year post-stroke.Methods & Procedures: A qualitative, prospective longitudinal design was used. Fifteen participants took part in semistructured interviews at four time points: 3, 6, 9, and 12 months post-stroke. A total of 50 interviews were conducted. Data analysis sought to identify common features or the shared experiences of the participants.Outcomes & Results: Findings from this study indicated one overarching theme: actively moving forward. This theme described the importance of participants taking positive actions in order to promote living successfully with aphasia across time. Factors relating to perceived communication improvement, engagement in activities, social support, and maintaining positivity were important in facilitating a more successful life with aphasia across time.Conclusions: Findings from this study suggest a holistic approach to aphasia management is necessary with direct intervention efforts consistent with the broader context of an individual’s everyday life. Speech language pathologists may play a crucial role in the delivery of timely services to ensure that people with aphasia and their families are supported in their endeavours to live successfully with aphasia.