Telehealth Assessments and Interventions for Individuals With Poststroke Aphasia: A Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Digital Health

Background:

• Growing demand for remote aphasia assessment and intervention services.
• Telehealth offers a potential solution for delivering care to individuals with poststroke aphasia.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review on telehealth for poststroke aphasia.
• Identify telehealth assessment and intervention protocols used.
• Describe evidence on effectiveness and feasibility of telehealth for poststroke aphasia.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review of literature published since 2013.
• Searched five major databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus).
• 25 articles were included after screening 869 records.

Main Results:

• Two studies focused on telehealth assessment protocols; the rest on interventions.
• Telehealth demonstrated effectiveness and feasibility for poststroke aphasia care.
• A notable lack of procedural variation was observed across studies.

Conclusions:

• Telehealth is a viable alternative for delivering aphasia assessment and intervention.
• Further research is required to broaden telehealth applications in aphasia.
• Future research should explore patient-reported measures and extralinguistic abilities via telehealth.