Barriers to Informational Support for Care Partners of People With Aphasia After Stroke

Abstract

Background: Care partners of people with aphasia after stroke need various informational supports, such as aphasia education and resources for psychosocial support. However, informational support may vary across clinicians, and access to these supports remains a persistent unmet need. Using implementation science frameworks can help to assess the gap between what is known about an issue and what is occurring in practice.

Aim: The aim was to identify barriers to providing informational support for care partners of people with aphasia after stroke.

Method and procedure: We performed a secondary analysis of qualitative data collected from two of our previous studies. New themes were identified by comparing feedback from both speech-language pathologists and care partners, and previously assigned codes were interpreted relative to the Knowledge to Action (KTA) framework.

Outcomes and results: We identified four implementation themes that were specifically related to the action cycle of the KTA framework: (a) Aphasia rehabilitation tends to exclude care partners, (b) aphasia rehabilitation can be hard to understand, (c) structure is lacking for care partner check-ins, and (d) care partner informational support rarely extends beyond the acute phases of recovery.

Conclusion: The results suggest that changes are needed at both systemic and care provider levels to ensure that tailored information is provided to care partners of people with aphasia.