Enhanced patient involvement in Swedish aphasia intervention

The present article is a case study in which participation is investigated in terms of the use of interactional practices that enhance the involvement of a man with severe aphasia in activities that aim to capture his and his wife's experiences of everyday communication, and their views of his speech and language intervention. Five practices are identified: 1) collaborative telling, 2) formulations, 3) yes/no questions, 4) declaratives and 5) hint-and-guess strategies. It is demonstrated how participants' (wife, a speech and language pathologist, and two research assistants) use of these practices are beneficial for making the viewpoints of the man with aphasia come across, despite his communication difficulties. Results are discussed in light of the importance of finding ways to make patients influence their own intervention, both in terms of a raised awareness of facilitative interactional practices and of activities such as interviews and retrospection sessions with patients and their significant others.