Browsing by Author "Virtanen, Tarja"

Objective: Previous studies suggest that outcomes in aphasia therapy are not often routinely measured in the clinical practice. On the other hand, there has been little research on the views of speech and language therapists (SLT) on the outcome evaluation. The objective of this study was to gather information about the opinions of SLT's when it comes to the role, need and value of the outcome evaluation in the clinical practice. Methods: A conceptual framework called theory of alignment was used in this study. The data were collected by interviewing ten SLTs practicing aphasia therapy. The interviews were transcribed and the data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions: According to the results SLTs evaluate the outcomes of aphasia therapy for themselves, for the patients and their significant others and for external stakeholders. The role of the outcome evaluation is different depending on the stakeholder needing evaluation. SLTs may consider routine evaluation of the outcomes unnecessary since the different stakeholders do not always create a need for the outcome evaluation. When it comes to the outcomes of aphasia therapy, STLs found it important to get information on their patient's improvement in different contexts. SLTs also valued other persons' opinions of the outcomes as well as information on the patient's symptoms and their further need for aphasia therapy. Furthermore, SLTs considered that the extent and form of information were important when assessing outcomes. Acknowledging the views of SLTs on the outcome evaluation may help to develop the evaluation practices by resolving some problems relating to the evaluation. In case the routine evaluation of outcomes is desired nationally in aphasia therapy, the SLTs should find that there are different stakeholders needing evaluation for a certain reason. When new tests and assessment tools are developed and translated into Finnish language, it should be considered that they will provide information SLTs find worth collecting.