Dr Jade Dignam from UQ’s Queensland Aphasia Research Centre featured on Speak Up: A Speech Pathology Australia Podcast talking about current research into the Comprehensive High-Dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT) program.
Dr Dignam said the recent study is a joint collaboration between QARC and the Speech Pathology department at the Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service.
“What we are looking at with this study is when CHAT is delivered as part of a clinical service, what are the clinical outcomes?,” Dr Dignam said.
“Often in a research study, we have quite clear criteria about who can be included and can’t.
“Whereas this study is looking at is, does this treatment work for the general stroke rehab population?
“So, what we are seeing are our participants are slightly older, they’ve got potentially more complex comorbidities or medical histories, they have had multiple strokes and often these people wouldn’t be included in a research project.
“Importantly what we found was significant improvements across a number of different measures.
“We found significant improvements on language impairment measures looking at the comprehensive aphasia test, we also found significant improvements in functional communication as well as communication related quality of life as well as an improvement in communication confidence.”
“So, what we have seen has been very exciting.
“Across these domains and areas the impact of this comprehensive therapy resulting in improvements not just in the traditional language impairment modes but across broader quality of life and communication domains as well.”
