Abstract
Background: Caregiving places an emotional burden on the carer of the person with aphasia as the carer is likely not prepared psychologically, emotionally, or financially for caring for someone post stroke. The carer plays a major role in the recovery process of individuals with aphasia. There is limited research examining the carer’s communicative contributions in an interview situation as it relates to their perceptions of caregiving as well as the relationship to the functional communication skills of the person with aphasia.
Aims: The aim of this study was to examine the carer’s perception of caregiving as it relates to their communication style and interaction with the person with aphasia in an interview situation. The functional communication skills of persons with aphasia were also examined in relationship to the carer’s communicative contributions.
Methods & Procedures: Nine persons with aphasia and their carers participated in this study. Participants were administered a variety of measures including the Communication Activities of Daily Living-2 (CADL-2) to assess functional communication skills, a Spousal Intake Form to obtain participant history and other pertinent information, a Spousal Rating Scale to evaluate the person with aphasia’s current level of performance in certain areas, and The Carers of Older People in Europe index to explore carer’s perceptions of caregiving. Participants were interviewed and discussed their opinion on 6–8 issues (e.g., healthcare system, divorce, technology, poverty). All interviews were transcribed and coded for specific communication behaviours as outlined in a previous study.
Outcomes & Results: The contributions most often used by carers in the interview situations were “speaking for,” revision and correction behaviours. Within this sample, repair of the interviewer’s turn, acknowledging difficulty, rejection, and ambivalent reaction, was not observed. When looking at carers’ perceptions, carers with higher perceived quality of support and used less assistance with word-finding contributions.
Conclusions: There is a relationship between the carer’s communication style and perceptions of caregiving and the functional communication skills of persons with aphasia as evidenced by their raw scores on the CADL-2. In general, our results revealed that carers of persons with aphasia are active contributors in an interview situation when the person with aphasia is attempting to communicate. Also, the carer’s perceptions of caregiving impact the way in which they communicate with the person with aphasia.