Seventy-seven people responded to our June 2015 survey. The topic of the survey was "Setting goals in aphasia treatment and recovery".   To see the detailed results click here.   Below you will find a quick summary and interpretation of the results. [ABBREVIATIONS: PWA=person with aphasia; PRA=person recovering from aphasia;   SLP=speech language pathologist; FM/C=family member/caregiver; TBI=traumatic brain injury; cognitive skills= attention; memory; problem solving; cognitive flexibility; executive skills]

Question 1: (Who are you?) - 43% of respondents were given assistance by FM/C or SLP in completing the survey; 39% were PWA; 20% were PRA; and 4% for people who have recovered from aphasia.   These numbers demonstrate the need to assist those PWA to find the tools and assistance to become PRA and people recovered from aphasia.

Questions 2 (Who should set goals in aphasia recovery treatment?)  and  3 ( Who was the person who set your goals for aphasia recovery treatment?) - while 90% of those responding thought that goals should be set by either the PWA or a collaboration of the PWA, FM/C and SLP, 27% reported that their goals were set by FM/C and SLP.  

Question 4: (What are your goals at this moment for your speech and language?) - while 20% of responders indicated they wanted to live the best they could with their aphasia and to be able to use assistance and support when communicating, 47% indicated they wanted to be able to have normal conversations and to be a productive member in society perhaps returning to work or school.   We see here a trend toward more aggressive goal setting by PWA and PRA.   See our May 2015 newsletter for advice about aggressive  recovery.  

Question 5: (Are you currently in therapy?) - Slightly more responders were not in therapy at this time than were in active treatment.   These results show a need for more of affordable, accessible, and effective treatment for aphasia recovery.

Questions 7: (What were your goals when you first started your speech therapy?)  and  8 (What are your goals now?) -  results showed that people with aphasia overtime become more interested in focusing on saying longer sentences and discourse, more normal conversational interaction, and improved cognitive skills . PWA seem to have a clearer appreciation of the difference between intact intelligence after stroke and the critical need to work on their cognitive skills.   Problems with cognitive skills must be addressed in a proficient aphasia recovery program. See our January 2015 newsletter for information on the role of cognition and metacognition in aphasia therapy and recovery.  

Questions 11: (Have your personal recovery goals changed over time?) and 12 (What do you need to reach your ultimate goal? )-  unfortunately, while we know that almost 50% of responders want to have a normal independent conversation and be a productive member of society, only 12% have in fact been able to become more aggressive with their goals in recovery. This appears to be true despite the fact that many are still working everyday to improve. This dilemma that PWA face is reflected in the number of responders who have lowered expectations, focus on adapting, and/or require assistance when attempting to communicate.  

Question 12:  Responses to question 12 show that people with aphasia clearly want more aggressive and smart treatment and practice as 75% of the responders chose answers that called for action, change and recovery.