Plain English Summary
Background and study aims
About 150,000 people in the UK have a stroke for the first time each year, with significant cost to health and social care. A third of them experience aphasia, a communication disorder which affects speaking, understanding, writing or reading. Aphasia is associated with longer stays in hospital and has severe consequences for all aspects of life. People with aphasia may not fully benefit from stroke rehabilitation for a number of reasons to do with their communication. They may struggle to understand questions or follow instructions, or be unable to express their needs, leading to great frustration. Information must be communicated in particular ways to be accessible to them, or they may need additional help to set goals. Staff do not necessarily have the skills to support people with aphasia in these ways. ‘Supported communication’ uses a set of techniques to make communication accessible for people with aphasia. A skilled communication partner uses low-tech resources such as pen/paper, pictures, symbols, calendars, or gestures to break down barriers and enable understanding and expression. Research with community volunteers and students has shown that there are beneficial effects for conversation and engagement. Supported communication could be used by any member of the stroke team to help patients with aphasia to engage more fully in rehabilitation. It has the potential to improve the quality of care, and address some of the key aims of stroke rehabilitation such as adapting to disability, and increasing quality of life and well-being. Previous studies have mostly focussed on its use outside the clinical context. This study aims to build on this evidence and see whether supported communication is a technique that can be learned by stroke unit staff, and used during everyday rehabilitation to enhance participation and improve outcomes for people with aphasia.
Who can participate?
Healthcare staff from two stroke units.
What does the study involve?
We recruited healthcare staff from two stroke units; staff at one unit were trained in supported communication, while the other unit received the usual training.
What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
The results of the study will be used to help design a more comprehensive study
Where is the study run from?
University of East Anglia (UK)
When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
From June 2011 to September 2012
Who is funding the study?
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK)
Who is the main contact?
Dr Simon Horton
s.horton@uea.ac.uk
Trial website
Contact information
Type
Scientific
Primary contact
Dr SImon Horton
ORCID ID
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2133-1410
Contact details
University of East Anglia
School of Allied Health Professions
The Queen's Building
Earlham Road
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom
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s.horton@uea.ac.uk
Additional identifiers
EudraCT number
ClinicalTrials.gov number
Protocol/serial number
9370
Study information
Scientific title
Supported Communication to Improve Participation in Rehabilitation of people with moderate-severe aphasia after a first stroke: a pilot study (SCIP-R)
Acronym
SCIPR
Study hypothesis
About a third of people who have a stroke for the first time experience aphasia, a communication disorder affecting speaking, understanding, writing or reading. Aphasia is associated with longer stays in hospital and has severe consequences for all aspects of life. People with aphasia may not fully benefit from stroke rehabilitation for a number of reasons to do with their communication. They may be unable to understand questions, follow instructions, or express their needs. This may lead to misunderstanding and frustration. Information must be communicated in particular ways to be accessible to them, or they may need additional help to set goals. Staff are not necessarily trained in the skills to support people with aphasia in these ways.
'Supported communication' uses a set of techniques to make communication accessible for people with aphasia. A skilled communication partner uses low-tech resources such as pen/paper, pictures, symbols, calendars, or gestures to break down barriers and enable understanding and expression. Research with community volunteers and students has shown that there are beneficial effects for conversation and engagement.
Supported communication could be used by any member of the stroke team to help patients with aphasia to engage more fully in rehabilitation. It has the potential to improve the quality of care, and address some of the key aims of stroke rehabilitation such as adapting to disability, and increasing quality of life and wellbeing.
Previous studies have mostly focused on its use outside the clinical context. This study aims to build on this evidence and see whether supported communication is a technique that can be learned by stroke unit staff, and used during every day rehabilitation to enhance participation and improve outcomes for people with aphasia.
The results of the study will be used to strengthen the design of a more comprehensive trial.
Ethics approval
10/H0310/69
Study design
Non-randomised; Interventional; Design type: Process of Care
Primary study design
Interventional
Secondary study design
Non randomised study
Trial setting
GP practices
Trial type
Treatment
Patient information sheet
Not available in web format, please use contact details to request a participant information sheet
Condition
Topic: Stroke Research Network; Subtopic: Rehabilitation; Disease: Therapy type
Intervention
'Supported communication' uses a set of techniques to make communication accessible for people with aphasia. A skilled communication partner uses low tech resources such as pen/paper, pictures, symbols, calendars, or gestures to break down barriers and enable understanding and expression. Supported communication could be used by any member of the stroke team to help patients with aphasia to engage more fully in rehabilitation. Study Entry: Registration only
Intervention type
Other
Phase
Phase II
Drug names
Primary outcome measure
Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale (SAQOL39g); Timepoint(s): Discharge from unit and 6 month follow-up
Secondary outcome measures
Not provided at time of registration
Overall trial start date
15/06/2011
Overall trial end date
30/09/2012
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)
Eligibility
Participant inclusion criteria
1. Staff participants: nurses drawn from all day shifts (Bands 57)
2. Qualified therapy staff (Bands 57)
3. Therapy/healthcare assistants (Band 4)
Participant type
Health professional
Age group
Adult
Gender
Both
Target number of participants
Planned Sample Size: 100; UK Sample Size: 100
Participant exclusion criteria
Medical staff will be excluded: rotation of FY1 doctors makes it unlikely that they would be able to complete participation in the study
Recruitment start date
15/06/2011
Recruitment end date
30/09/2012
Locations
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Trial participating centre
University of East Anglia
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom
Funders
Funder type
Government
Funder name
National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) (UK) - Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) programme
Alternative name(s)
NIHR
Funding Body Type
government organisation
Funding Body Subtype
Federal/National Government
Location
United Kingdom
Results and Publications
Publication and dissemination plan
Not provided at time of registration
Intention to publish date
Participant level data
Not provided at time of registration
Basic results (scientific)
Publication list
2015 results in: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02687038.2014.1000819
2016 results in: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27091825