Aphasia Friendly Medication Instructions: Effects on Comprehension in Persons with and without Aphasia

<p>Accessible health information supports people to understand and manage chronic medical conditions and is frequently presented via text. Comprehension of written health information becomes more difficult for people with language impairments, such as aphasia. Nine people with aphasia (PWA) and nine people without aphasia (PWoA), participated in this study. Each participant reviewed two unmodified medication instructions and two modified medication instructions using aphasia-friendly principles, then answered eight multiple choice questions and provided their preferences. Results showed that PWA demonstrated improved comprehension given modifications, but PWoA’s comprehension did not improve with modifications. Group comparison in the modified condition demonstrated that PWoA still demonstrated higher comprehension compared to PWA. Most participants, in both groups, preferred aphasia-friendly instructions. This study highlights the need for further improvements to be made to the health care system to support comprehension and independence of all persons with regard to readability of complex health information.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

MSSLP

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

Year dc:date.available

2020

Author dc:creator

• Saylor, Anna

Contributors dc:contributor

• Sarah Wallace
• Caterina Staltari
• Elena Donoso-Brown
• James Schreiber

• aphasia
• aphasia-friendly
• reading comprehension
• medication
• medication management
• Speech Pathology and Audiology

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/1916

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-2918