Abstract
The utilization of technology has allowed for several advances in aphasia rehabilitation for individuals with acquired brain injury. Thirty-one previous studies that provide technology-based language or language and cognitive rehabilitation are examined in terms of the domains addressed, the types of treatments that were provided, details about the methods and the results, including which types of outcomes are reported. From this, we address questions about how different aspects of the delivery of treatment can influence rehabilitation outcomes, such as whether the treatment was standardized or tailored, whether the participants were prescribed homework or not, and whether intensity was varied. Results differed by these aspects of treatment delivery but ultimately the studies demonstrated consistent improvement on various outcome measures. With these aspects of technology-based treatment in mind, the ultimate goal of personalized rehabilitation is discussed.
Highlights
It is estimated that ∼100,000 individuals acquire aphasia each year in industrial countries
KEY CONCEPT 1 | Intensity of aphasia rehabilitation Refers to the time per week spent on treatment throughout the duration of the study
The previous studies reviewed provide a basis for the effectiveness of technology-based rehabilitation for individuals with acquired brain injury/stroke and allows for further, more specific questions to be addressed
Summary
It is estimated that ∼100,000 individuals acquire aphasia each year in industrial countries (eso-stroke.org). A recent review of treatment studies in chronic post-stroke individuals found that treatment outcomes for individuals in the chronic phase (6 months or longer post stroke) was quite robust, questioning the premise that chronic post-stroke individuals do not benefit from rehabilitation (Allen et al, 2012; Teasell et al, 2012) These and other studies highlight the importance of providing sustained rehabilitation to acute and chronic patients. The use of technology-based rehabilitation is one way to provide greater intensity and, if proven effective, can be an important tool for clinicians to improve rehabilitation outcomes. KEY CONCEPT 1 | Intensity of aphasia rehabilitation Refers to the time per week spent on treatment throughout the duration of the study This term reflects how concentrated the treatment is during a given week of the study that an individual receives. The remaining studies were excluded if they (i) did not include treatment programs, (ii) were single case studies with fewer than three participants, (iii) provided different treatments for each individual, (iv) included a primary population of individuals with primary progressive aphasia or dementia, (v) the technology was only used as an augmentative/alternative communication device or as an assessment tool, or (vi) only reported subsets of the full data from studies that were published elsewhere
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