Personalization of Restorative and Compensatory Treatments for People With Aphasia
Amber Thiessen, Jessica Brown
Abstract
Speech–language pathologists serving individuals with aphasia must make many decisions regarding assessment and intervention practices to support comprehension and expression of language. Each of these decisions can influence the effectiveness of therapy and long-term functional outcomes for individuals with aphasia. One factor that must be considered is the impact of personalizing therapy techniques to match the unique strengths and challenges of a client as well as incorporating personally relevant stimuli and methodologies into therapy. Research indicates that treatment customization can have a positive impact on service provision quality and can potentially lead to positive outcomes in therapy. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad overview of how personalization can be achieved across a variety of interventions. Furthermore, we explore factors (e.g., client motivation, cognitive resources) that influence therapeutic outcomes and discuss the benefits, challenges, and rationale for therapy customization.