Aphasia Treatment from a Nursing Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this literature review is to investigate methods used to treat aphasia, to answer questions which can be of interest out of a nursing approach. The questions are: When does the speech pathologist start the assessment of the patient and the training, and where is the training executed? Are there persons other than the speech pathologist involved in the treatment? How is the aphasic method for each patient selected, what is the purpose of the method used and what is the result? Which variables, except language deficit, are of importance for the outcome of the treatment?The aphasic patient meets the nursing staff from the on-set of illness and it is important for the personnel to have knowledge of aphasia and its consequences for the patient. The eleven articles reviewed give a broad view of aphasia therapy. The time period for the articles is from 1974 to 1995. They describe treatment of different kinds of aphasia and both case studies and group studies are performed. The result shows that there are no unambigous answers to the questions asked. Furthermore it is obvious that variables, such as emotional status, well-known surroundings etc., which can influence the outcome of the treatment, were not examined in the articles. The nursing staff were mentioned but their importance for the results of the treatment was not investigated. It is obvious that this is a domain which needs research from a nursing perspective and a development of the cooperation between the speech pathologists and the nursing staff.