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A Visual Interactive Narrative Intervention (VINI) for aphasia education: Can digital applications administer
John A Velez1, Justin Robert Keene2, Melinda Corwin3
1Communication Science Unit, The Media School, College of Arts + Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, USA.
Objective:
Persons with aphasia (PWA) face additional barriers to proper healthcare due to inadequate patient education by health professionals unequipped to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The current study examines a digital application that evokes and sustains health information processing through AAC specifically aimed at increasing comprehension with augmented input (AI).
Methods:
A digital application designed to educate PWA about their health condition was compared to a video-recorded doctor providing oral-only education. Sixteen PWA received both education interventions in a crossover manner. Health information processing was assessed through heart rate (HR) and skin conductance levels (SCL), which were collected continually during each administration of education interventions.
Results:
PWA demonstrated greater cognitive processing of health information via HR and SCL indices during the digital application compared to the typical oral-only education intervention. The oral-only intervention led PWA to disengage with health information.
Conclusion:
By combining visuographic materials and adapted language into a customizable narrative structure, digital applications can utilize AI to educate PWA about basic health information (i.e., diagnosis and prognosis).
Practice Implications:
The current study's AAC requires minimal training and can be used as an aided support in conjunction with other techniques that increase PWA's access to health information.
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