Comprehensive quality assessment for aphasia rehabilitation after stroke: protocol for a multicentre, mixed-methods...

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Stroke-induced aphasia significantly impacts patient outcomes.
• Current methods for measuring aphasia service quality are insufficient.
• The Meaningful Evaluation of Aphasia SeRvicES (MEASuRES) minimum dataset was developed collaboratively to address this gap.

Purpose of the Study:

• To pilot the MEASuRES minimum dataset in Australian clinical settings.
• To evaluate the dataset's performance and clinical applicability.
• To establish consumer-informed thresholds for meaningful change in aphasia outcome measures.

Main Methods:

• A multicentre pilot study will administer the MEASuRES dataset across five health services.
• A mixed-methods process evaluation will assess dataset performance and clinical utility.
• Consensus studies will determine meaningful change thresholds for core outcome measures.

Main Results:

• The pilot study will test the feasibility of the MEASuRES dataset administration.
• The process evaluation will identify factors supporting or hindering implementation.
• Consensus studies will define clinically significant change values for key outcome instruments.

Conclusions:

• Successful implementation of the MEASuRES dataset can lead to a standardized quality assessment toolkit for aphasia services.
• This toolkit will facilitate the measurement of meaningful clinical change for individuals with post-stroke aphasia.
• Improved quality assessment is expected to enhance patient outcomes and service delivery.