Abstract

BackgroundStudies of therapy influence on after-aphasia marital relations are lacking. Much needs to be learned about the range of factors associated with couples benefiting from therapy. Understanding these issues is key to facilitating optimal post-aphasia outcomes from the perspective of the patient and his caretaking spouse. This paper reports an evaluation of a group therapy intervention conducted with aphasic people and their life partners.MethodsThe intervention comprised of 10 sessions of approximately 90 min duration and included two groups of couples, with fluent and non-fluent aphasic partner. The therapy program consisted of basic communication activities within the group which encouraged sharing of personal experience but mostly relied on psychoeducation, gaining knowledge about after-stroke aphasia. The respondents were interviewed and completed neuropsychological assessment. Quality of marriage was determined using Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Marital adjustment was measured twice, before intervention and after 6 months. Long-time effects of therapy included a significant mean difference in quality of marriage between therapy attendants and controls. Marital relationship decline seems to be worse amongst control subjects, who were not involved in any kind of psychological support. In spite of initial non-distressed relationship they report deterioration of their bond in half a year’s time. We also showed changes in dynamics of quality of marriage during this time in all investigated groups. The implications of these findings for counseling services are discussed.

Highlights

  • There is extensive literature on aphasia and it’s various every-day life consequences

  • As post hoc comparisons using the Bonferroni test indicate, this concerns only fluent aphasic patients not included in intervention (FAP controls)

  • Attending the therapy was associated with lasting higher evaluation of dyadic consensus and emotional expression in fluent aphasia (FAP) group, as well as higher affection’s expression in non-fluent aphasia (NFAP) group during follow-up

Read more

Summary

Introduction

There is extensive literature on aphasia and it’s various every-day life consequences. Aphasia impairs functioning in previous roles both occupational and as a family member (Brady et al, 2011; Martinsen et al, 2012). This shift changes the system dynamics and is often a cause of tension. Much needs to be learned about the range of factors associated with couples benefiting from therapy. Understanding these issues is key to facilitating optimal post-aphasia outcomes from the perspective of the patient and his caretaking spouse. This paper reports an evaluation of a group therapy intervention conducted with aphasic people and their life partners

Objectives
Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call