ASAHP grant funds research study on training future health professionals to communicate with people with aphasia

A research study that aims to equip future allied health professionals with the most effective methods and skills to communicate with people with aphasia has received a $30,000 interprofessional collaboration grant from the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions. ASAHP announced the grant award on Sept. 18. 

Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder caused by stroke or neurodegenerative disease that affects the ability of an estimated 2 million people in the United States to express or understand verbal and written language.

Led by Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Assistant Professor Cathy Torrington Eaton, PhD, CCC-SLP, the study is designed to determine which combination of training is most effective. Study participants include 18 graduate students from occupational therapy, physical therapy and physician assistant studies programs in the School of Health Professions at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, as well as graduate speech-language pathology students and community members who have aphasia and participate in the San Antonio Network for Aphasia, a support group hosted by the department on campus. 

The study design will allow researchers to compare outcomes from training only to online training with a variety of training approaches, including feedback, self-reflections and in-person group interaction, Eaton said.

“We are also very excited to enlist members of our aphasia community to participate in various ways,” Eaton said. “Some of them will be in the training videos, some of them will be helping with the experimental part of the project. It’s a big effort that we are all involved in.”

The project builds on a pilot study funded by a 2022 Linking Interprofessional Networks for Collaboration (LINC) seed grant. 

“In the pilot study, we showed efficacy of being able to train these interdisciplinary professionals, but now we want to be able to scale it up to train a lot more health professionals — so we need to know which components of training get the biggest bang for the buck,” Eaton said. 

The study’s co-investigators are Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Director of Clinical Education and Assistant Professor Angela Kennedy, SLP-D, CCC-SLP, and Department of Physical Therapy Assistant Professor Selina Morgan, PT, DPT, NCS. Interprofessional education collaborators include Department of Physician Assistant Studies Assistant Professor Leticia Bland, DHSc, MPAS, PA-C, and Department of Occupational Therapy Clinical Associate Professor Autumn Clegg, EdD, OTR.

“This exciting interprofessional program will raise awareness among health professions students and clinicians, who will learn how to communicate more effectively with people with aphasia. The skills and insights they will gain will make a meaningful difference in the lives of people with aphasia and their loved ones,” said David Shelledy, PhD, RRT, FAARC, FASAHP, dean and professor of the School of Health Professions.