Where to Start When Treating Clients Post-Stroke

So, let’s say your receptionist tells you your new patient recently had a stroke. And you immediately think, “the last time I saw someone post-stroke was grad school!” Fret not! Instead, I hope my evidence-based insights into treating clients who experienced a stroke will help you brush up on treatment approaches. First, see what patient information you can access before the patient even steps foot in your office; what can any previous evaluations or medical documents tell you? Do you know the location of the injury? In general, a left hemisphere injury brings about more speech and language challenges, while a right hemisphere injury likely results in more cognitive challenges—such as issues with attention, executive function, memory, or judgment. Can you find out if they have any muscle or nerve damage potentially affecting speech or voice? Do you have any previous speech, language or cognitive testing results? If not—or what you receive is insufficient—you’ll want some assessments on hand. I like the Cognitive Linguistic Quick Test (CLQT), the Boston Naming Test (BNT) or the Western Aphasia Battery (WAB) for evaluating stroke patients. Although these assessments will give you valuable, concrete information about cognition and language, your primary goal should be to assess how your patient’s unique stroke symptoms affect their day-to-day life. A tool like ASHA’s Quality of Community Life Scale can shed light on how this stroke has affected your patient, as...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Tags: Speech-Language Pathology acquired brain injury Aphasia Cognitive Rehabilitation Language Disorders Source Type: blogs