Optimising Healthcare Communication for People with Aphasia in Hospital: Key Directions for Future Research

Purpose of Review: People with aphasia and their healthcare workers have difficulty communicating, leaving people with aphasia at risk of poorer quality care, experiences and health outcomes. It is not yet known how best to optimise healthcare communication for this population. This literature review provides directions for future research regarding interventions aiming to optimise communication between healthcare workers and people with aphasia in hospital. Findings: This paper offers four key foci to consider when planning or evaluating interventions: (1) individual and (2) systems-level environmental factors must be targeted to facilitate successful implementation, (3) reliable and feasible outcome measures must be developed to measure communication change in actual clinical interactions and (4) studies must be designed and reported adequately to ensure replicable and comparable research. Summary: This paper provides direction for research on interventions to enhance patient-provider communication, and quality care for people with aphasia in hospital, to enable better participation and care outcomes for this population.