Background: Endovascular clot retrieval (ECR) is known to reduce global disability at 3 months post stroke however limited research exists regarding the trajectory of specific clinical impairments including language, swallowing and cognitive deficits between onset and 3 months. Aims: To assess language, swallowing, and cognitive performance…

Background: Online knowledge translation (KT) approaches are becoming increasingly prevalent within healthcare due to their accessibility and facilitation of international support networks. Online platforms enable timely and far-reaching dissemination of current evidence and best-practice recommendations. Although there is potential to improve the…

Background: A number of practice barriers (e.g., time constraints, patient comorbidities and competing demands) exist as regards the evidence-based assessment of adult language within the acute hospital setting. There is need for an evidence-based, diagnostically validated, adaptable, comprehensive and efficient aphasia assessment. The Brisbane…

Background: People with aphasia are vulnerable recipients of healthcare. The nature of the communicative environment and the communication disability can adversely impact access to timely and quality healthcare. Student healthcare professionals are often underprepared to interact successfully with people with aphasia and may benefit from…

Purpose: Brain imaging has provided puzzle pieces in the understanding of language. In neurologically healthy populations, the structure of certain brain regions is associated with particular language functions (e.g., semantics, phonology). In studies on focal brain damage, certain brain regions or connections are considered sufficient or…

Background: Training conversation partners of people with aphasia who use facilitative communication strategies is one method that can improve access to healthcare for people with aphasia. However, the efficacy of communication partner training (CPT) has been investigated almost exclusively in the context of face-to-face (F2F) delivery. Online…

Background: Effective implementation strategies to improve speech and language therapists' (SLTs) aphasia management practices are needed. Australian SLTs working in the acute setting have reported inconsistent implementation of post-stroke aphasia guideline recommendations. Therefore, implementation efforts to address these gaps are necessary.…

Background: Access to treatments for mood disorders may pose a challenge to individuals with compromised communication ability. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) have previously reported that their clients with aphasia decline formal psychological support; however, their role in their clients' help-seeking has not been explored. Aims: To…

Background: Communication partners (CPs) find it challenging to communicate with people with communication disorders post-stroke. Stroke communication partner training (CPT) can enhance CPs' ability to support the communication and participation of people post-stroke. While evidence for the efficacy of aphasia-based CPT is strong, implementation…

Background: Very early aphasia rehabilitation studies have shown mixed results. Differences in therapy intensity and therapy type contribute significantly to the equivocal results. Aims: To compare a standardized, prescribed very early aphasia therapy regimen with a historical usual care control group at therapy completion (4-5 weeks post-stroke)…

Background: An evidence-practice gap has been identified in current acute aphasia management practice, with the provision of services to people with aphasia in the acute hospital widely considered in the literature to be inconsistent with best-practice recommendations. The reasons for this evidence-practice gap are unclear; however, speech…

Background: Aphasia affects family members in addition to the individuals with the communication disorder. In order to develop appropriate services for the relatives of people with aphasia post-stroke, their rehabilitation goals need to be identified. Aim: The aim of the current investigation was to identify the rehabilitation goals that family…

Background: Previous research has identified that many patients admitted into acute hospital stroke units have communication-related impairments such as hearing, vision, speech, language and/or cognitive communicative impairment. However, no research has identified how many patients in acute hospital stroke units have difficulty actually…

Background: Discharging clients with long-term aphasia from therapy services constitutes a challenging dilemma for practising clinicians for a multitude of reasons. Although discharge was raised and discussed as a contentious issue in the field of aphasiology ten years ago, it remains an aspect of practice which is complex and underexplored. We…

The lexical-semantic and syntactic abilities of a group of individuals with chronic nonthalamic subcortical (NS) lesions following stroke (n=6) were investigated using the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) picture description task [Kertesz, A. (1982). "The Western aphasia battery." New York: Grune and Stratton] and compared with those of a…