| Abstract: |
There is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of group treatment for increasing functional communication skills and pragmatics. However, there is limited research on the use of combined individual and group treatment for individuals with aphasia. Combined individual and group treatment has become increasingly common in health care despite the lack of data describing the effectiveness for individuals with aphasia. For this study, 10 individuals with aphasia were recruited and assigned into either a control group (Al, where they received 8 weeks of individual treatment, or an experimental group (B), where they received 2 weeks of individual treatment and 6 weeks of combined individual and group treatment. Each participant completed three evaluation batteries consisting offunctional communication, language, cognitive, pragmatic, mood, and quality of life assessments. Performance on the Aphasia Diagnostic Profile (ADPl measure of alternative communication was found to be statistically different for the experimental group, although other measures did not differ significantly. Trends toward statistical significance were found for Group B's performance on the Communicative Abilities in Daily Living (CADL-2) and the ADP. Future research is needed in a larger sample of participants in order to determine the effect of combined group and individual treatment on functional communication measures. |
