Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC.
Stroke Comeback Center, Vienna, VA.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2021 Jul 14;30(4):1805-1818. doi: 10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00297. Epub 2021 Jul 7.
Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has led to stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines that have the potential to greatly impact individuals' behavior and social engagement. Adults recovering from stroke or other brain trauma, who often have communication difficulties and other long-term challenges, are a population already at risk of isolation and lower quality of life. We investigated the impact of public health guidelines and related behavioral changes on self-perceptions of communication abilities and psychosocial factors in this population. Method The Stroke Comeback Center, a community-based center for stroke and other brain trauma survivors with communication impairments, disseminated an online survey to current members to investigate changes in communication, social engagement, and quality of life. Results Participants ( = 50) reported a number of changes in their day-to-day activities that reflect the current social distancing guidelines, such as reduced outings into the community and fewer in-person conversations with those living outside one's home. Overall, feelings of connectedness to others and overall quality of life were reported to be decreased when compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas receptive language abilities and technology skills were reported to have improved. Perhaps most interestingly, certain behavioral changes (including healthy movement activities and participation in virtual programs) had specific relationships with perceived communication abilities and social engagement. Conclusions Changes in daily life resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have had a tangible impact on self-perceived psychosocial elements (e.g., quality of life) and communication abilities among stroke and other brain trauma survivors. Clinicians and researchers may consider these perceived changes when engaging with this population as the effects of the pandemic continue and in the period of community re-entry that may follow. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.14830881.
目的
COVID-19 大流行导致了居家令和社交距离准则的出台，这些措施有可能极大地影响个人的行为和社交参与度。患有中风或其他脑部创伤的成年人已经面临着隔离和生活质量下降的风险，他们通常存在沟通困难和其他长期挑战。我们调查了公共卫生准则和相关行为变化对该人群自我感知的沟通能力和心理社会因素的影响。
方法
Stroke Comeback Center 是一个面向中风和其他有沟通障碍的脑部创伤幸存者的社区中心，该中心向现有的成员分发了一份在线调查，以调查沟通、社交参与和生活质量的变化。
结果
参与者（n=50）报告了他们日常生活中的许多变化，这些变化反映了当前的社交距离准则，例如减少了到社区的外出活动，以及与居住在自己家以外的人进行面对面交谈的次数减少。总体而言，与 COVID-19 大流行之前相比，他们与他人的联系感和整体生活质量都有所下降，而接受性语言能力和技术技能则有所提高。也许最有趣的是，某些行为变化（包括健康的运动活动和参与虚拟项目）与感知到的沟通能力和社交参与度有特定的关系。
结论
COVID-19 大流行导致的日常生活变化对中风和其他脑部创伤幸存者的自我感知心理社会因素（例如生活质量）和沟通能力产生了切实的影响。随着大流行的继续以及随后可能出现的社区重新进入阶段，临床医生和研究人员在与该人群接触时可能会考虑到这些感知到的变化。
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