The effectiveness of telepractice on language and communication in Aphasia patients: Literature Review

Abstract

Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that impacts understanding, speaking, reading, and writing in different severity levels and several performance levels, from word to sentence and discourse. A person with aphasia (PWA) can receive services in various ways depending on their prefers and needs. One of these ways is telepractice. Telepractice could be used by Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) as an addition to in-person services or as the primary form. Telepractice was widely used and accepted in many countries in an attempt of providing improved care for people with no nearby access to healthcare facilities. Clinical services have been greatly affected by the pandemic, thus the need of providing remote services was demanded. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of telepractice in post-stroke aphasia in the domains of language and communication. A systematic review was conducted in this study. The study utilized a systematic search based on PRISMA guidelines and included 9 articles. All the included studies investigated the effectiveness of telepractice in post-stroke aphasia. The treatment areas studies targeted are word retrieval, language skills, communication skills . In conclusion, the review found that telepractice in the targeted treatment programs is effective. However, the included articles lack strong methodological designs limiting the value of the evidence.