Communication style before and after aphasia: A study among Finnish population

Background: Communication difficulties in aphasia have a big effect on communicative activity and social participation. Contacts with other people than family become more infrequent because of problems in communicating. Rehabilitation should make a real difference in being able to communicate and in the life of people with aphasia.

Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the impact of aphasia on the communication style of people with aphasia in the Finnish population. The term “communication style” is used to describe how active the person is in communication situations and in participating in social interaction. In addition, a clinical evaluation of the communication style was made 6 months after an intervention concentrating on training total communication and guiding the partner to facilitate the use of different communication methods and support the interaction.

Methods & Procedures: The data were collected during natural rehabilitation courses for people with aphasia and their communication partners. The participants were 38 communication partners of people with aphasia. The courses were carried out in two parts (8 + 4 days) with a 3-month interval. A questionnaire concerning the communication style of people with aphasia was constructed using parts of Green’s questionnaire (1984) and its unpublished Finnish modification. The communication partners estimated the communication style of people with aphasia. At first, they estimated how the communication style was before the onset of aphasia and how it was 2 weeks before the intervention. Six months after the intervention, they estimated the communication style again.

Outcomes & Results: Aphasia has a drastic impact on the communicative activity and social participation of people with aphasia in Finland. Activity in conversations decreases and contacts with people other than family members and relatives become much more infrequent. The social interaction occurs mostly at home. The conversation topics focus on health, home matters and TV programmes when other topics such as work, hobbies, leisure time and plans for the future are discussed much less often.

Conclusion: Aphasia has a drastic impact on communication style, activity in communication and participation in social interaction, also according to this study conducted in Finland. There seems to be a decrease in communication between the people with aphasia and people other than their significant others and outside the home. To be able to have an impact on social participation, interventions also including people other than family members are needed.