Telepractice in a Person With Aphasia

Abstract

“TELEPRACTICE” (Source, Professional Issues in Telepractice for SLP) is defined as “The application of telecommunications technology to deliver professional services at a distance by linking clinician to client, or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and/or consultation” (ASHA, 2004). There is a discrepancy between the available manpower, and ratio of individuals with communication disorders. It has been well documented that the traditional service delivery system of Speech language pathology does not suffice to the needs of individuals with disability in the rural and in urban area. The present study aimed at assessing the efficacy of “telepractice” for rehabilitation of a person with Aphasia with respect to Indian context. This was a single case study on a person with Broca’s Aphasia who was assessed using the Face to Face (FTF) assessment and intervened using Skype via web camera system. The intervention was focussed on Expression, Repetition, Naming and Memory based on Manual for Adults Aphasia Therapy in Kannada (MAAT-K). Each session was audio recorded and was subjected to linguistic analysis. The results were analyzed as the baseline scores, mid therapy and post therapy scores. The results revealed there was significant improvement in the domains of Expression, Repetition, Naming and Memory. Also the impact of communication, activity limitation and emotional wellbeing was assessed using the sub-scales of The Burden of Stroke Scale (BOSS) i.e., The Communication Difficulty (CD), The Communication Associated Psychological Distress (CAPD), the Negative Mood Scale and the Positive Mood Scale and results revealed significant improvement in the domains of (CD) and( CAPD). Thus, telepractice is effective in the Indian context and is an upcoming area in the field of speech language pathology. It is vital to accelerate programs of research and clinical endeavours in this area to improvise the service delivery system.