Living Successfully With Chronic Aphasia: Outcomes and Program Improvement After 5 Years of Operations.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the durability of quality-of-life outcomes after 5-years of participation in an Aphasia Center program using Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) values.

DESIGN

Evidence-based practice quality improvement project.

SETTING

Ambulatory care Aphasia Center part of a larger health care system.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants included 10 clients with aphasia; 2 women and 8 men with a mean age of 66.5 years. All participants had consistent participation in LPAA aphasia center services over a 5-year period (n=10).

INTERVENTIONS

Group programming was provided using the LPAA as the service delivery model.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Client reported outcome measures were used. The Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale (SAQOL-39) was administered at 3 time periods: T1, baseline; T2, 1-year participation; and T3, 5-year participation. Program evaluation data were collected via a custom generated, self-reported electronic survey at the 5-year mark.

RESULTS

Outcomes indicated significant differences in self-reported quality-of-life scores from T1 to T2 and T1 to T3. No differences were observed between T2 to T3 for the mean score, physical domain, and communication domain of the SAQOL-39.

CONCLUSIONS

The project provided further support for the use of LPAA values with clients experiencing chronic aphasia.