It is a challenge for health professionals to involve patients with aphasia (PWAs) in their own treatment, care and rehabilitation. Disrupted communication may also influence patient safety and lead to social isolation.
In order to increase health care professionals’ ability to engage PWAs in communication and interaction, Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia (SCA) was adapted and implemented in a large neurological department at Rigshospitalet-Glostrup in Copenhagen.
Method
152 staff members representing different health professionals were assigned to one of eleven courses during a six month period. Each course had 10-12 participants and lasted 6 hours, including instruction in the SCA principles, video analysis, interdisciplinary group work, and practice sessions with PWAs. Self-assessed learning outcomes were evaluated with a brief questionnaire filled out by staff members immediately before course attendance and 3-6 months afterwards.
Results
Self-rated knowledge of aphasia had significantly improved when assessed 3-6 months after the course and improvement was seen for all groups of health professionals. Comfort and ease in communicating with PWA and ability to solve problems in communication, also showed significant improvements across all staff groups. After the course, more time to spend with patients was perceived as the most important factor to further increase communication success with PWA.
Conclusion
The results show that interdisciplinary SCA-courses successfully increase hospital staff’s confidence and self-assessed ability to communicate with PWAs.