| 1. |
- Taubner, Helena, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
-
Still the same?–Self-identity dilemmas when living with post-stroke aphasia in a digitalised society
- 2020
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - Abingdon : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 34:3
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: Self-identity construction through “stories of self” is highly relevant for people with aphasia, not only because the onset entails a “biographical disruption” but also since their ability to keep their “stories of self” going is reduced. Three dilemmas (constancy/change, sameness/difference and agency/dependency) are known to be central to identity. In a digitalised society like Sweden, self-identity construction, including the navigation of these dilemmas, takes place both online and offline. Nevertheless, research combining aphasia, identity and online issues is scarce. Aim: This qualitative study aims, in termsidentity dilemmas, to investigate self-identityconstruction in working-agepersons living with post-strokeaphasia in adigitalised society (i.e. Sweden). Are the dilemmas relevant to the participants, and if so, how do they navigate them online and offline? Methods and Procedures: Nine individuals (three men and six women, aged 24–54 at onset) with mild or moderate post-stroke aphasia participated. The data comprises nine individual audio-recorded interviews and 1,581 screenshots from online observations. Qualitative analyses were performed (vertically and horizontally), combining inductive and deductive approaches. Outcomes and Results: All three dilemmas are relevant to the participants. They construct their self-identity as both the same as they were pre-stroke and changed. They are both the same and different in relation to other stroke survivors (with or without aphasia), i.e. both “disabled” and “normal”. They display both dependency and agency. Thus, they navigate the dilemmas by constantly negotiating what to include in their stories of self. In addition, telling one story of self offline does not imply telling the same story online. Conclusion: The dilemmas are intertwined and highly relevant to the participants. Offline and online settings evoke different ways for them to navigate the dilemmas. Increased awareness of the possible struggle with self-identity dilemmas in people with aphasia, and the possible difference between their online and offline self-identities, should be of value to family members, clinicians and researchers. Further research based on a larger sample is suggested.
|
|
| 2. |
- Behrns, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(författare)
-
Aphasia and Computerised Writing Aid Supported Treatment
- 2009
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - London : Psychology Press. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 23:10, s. 1276-1294
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background:Individuals with aphasia often experience difficulties in writing. Word processors with a spell checker and a grammar checker can compensate for some of the writing difficulties associated with aphasia.Aims:To determine if writing difficulties associated with aphasia may be reduced by the use of a computerised writing aid when training patients.Methods & Procedures:The writing aids used in this study were originally designed specifically for persons with developmental reading and writing difficulties and are based on statistics of frequent misspellings and phonotactic rules. Three participants with aphasia selected one of two offered writing aids. Written production during treatment and evaluation was recorded and analysed by keystroke logging. The study had a single-subject ABA design replicated across three participants. The baseline (A) was established by measuring four dependent variables. During a 9-week intervention phase (B) the dependent variables were measured once a week. A follow-up (A) was done 10 months after the training was finished. The dependent variables were: total number of words in a writing task; proportion of correctly written words; words per minute; proportion of successful edits. The results were analysed both visually and by statistical calculations. Outcomes & Results:All participants experienced a positive improvement in their writing ability. Results showed individual differences; after completed training the first participant made more successful edits, the second wrote more words, had a larger proportion of correctly written words, and made more successful edits. The third participant's results did not show any improvement that could be statistically supported.Conclusions:This study showed that the computerised training facilitated the generating process and made the revision process more efficient for the participants. The results are important in that they indicate possible ways of designing writing treatment. However, they also show the need for careful analyses when evaluating different treatment strategies and in discussing what improved writing ability may be.
|
|
| 3. |
- Ahlsén, Elisabeth, 1951, et al.
(författare)
-
Activity-based communication analysis - focusing on context in communication partner training
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 32:10, s. 1145-1165
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: There is an increased awareness of contextual influence on communication involving persons with aphasia (PWA) and there is a need for frameworks addressing how to analyse contextual factors and address them in, for example, communication partner training (CPT). Activity-based communication analysis (ACA) is a theoretically based method providing a vocabulary and a structure for analysing the influence of context in interaction and how it relates to communication. Aims: The purpose of this paper is to present the framework of ACA as a means of stimulating further enrichment of CPT practices. Methods and Procedures: The paper provides a brief background to the ACA approach, including examples, as well as a checklist and a model for analysis and assessment of intervention addressing communication involving PWA. Outcomes and Results: This approach enables an explicit account of different contextual factors and how they relate to communication and may, thus, guide the design of CPT for particular participants and motivate behavioural change. Conclusions: ACA is a framework that addresses the influence of context on communicative interaction and provides a way of including contextual factors in a systematic way when analysing communication involving PWA. In this way, it can contribute to a richer analysis and intervention and is clearly applicable for CPT
|
|
| 4. |
- Schoenhals, Michael
(författare)
-
A Chinese spy manual (from the Qing dynasty)
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Intelligence and National Security. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-4527 .- 1743-9019.
-
Forskningsöversikt (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)
|
|
| 5. |
- Saldert, Charlotta, 1966, et al.
(författare)
-
Conversation partner training with spouses of persons with aphasia : A pilot study using a protocol to trace relevant characteristics
- 2013
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 27:3, s. 271-292
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Conversation partner training can be effective in improving communication in aphasia. However, there is a need for further research about effects of specific training programmes as well as about the relevant characteristics of the conversation partners who are to be candidates for training.Aims: This pilot study explores the applicability of an adaptation of a conversation partner training programme. In addition, a protocol for assessment of variables relating to the person with aphasia and the conversation partner that may be involved in changes in conversational interaction is examined.Methods & Procedures: Three dyads with persons with aphasia and their spouses participated in this explorative study with a case-series design. The training outcome was monitored with measures of perceived functional communication and analysis of multiple video-recorded natural conversations obtained at baseline, post intervention, and at a 12-week follow-up. Repeated measures of comprehension, word fluency, and psychological well-being were obtained as well as descriptive measures of the executive function and a profiling of attitudes and behaviour in communication in the spouses.Outcomes & Results: All three persons with aphasia and two of the spouses reported a slight improvement in the measure of perceived functional communication. This perception of improvement was also reflected in blinded, independent assessments of ability to support communication in conversations for the two spouses who reported improvement. The profiling of the third spouse indicated problems in attitudes to communication and also in aspects of executive function, and may account for the lack of intervention effects seen in the third dyad.Conclusions: The results show that intervention with the adapted training programme may be effective. It might be argued that the outcome measures as well as other measures fulfil their purpose. The profiling of relevant traits in the conversation partner may be useful, although the prognostic validity of the instruments needs to be further evaluated. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Aronsson, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
-
Is cognitive impairment associated with reduced syntactic complexity in writing? Evidence from automated text analysis
- 2021
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - : ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 35:7, s. 900-913
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Written language impairments are common in Alzheimers disease and reduced syntactic complexity in written discourse has been observed decades before the onset of dementia. The validity of average dependency distance (ADD), a measure of syntactic complexity, in cognitive decline needs to be studied further to evaluate its clinical relevance. Aims: The aim of the study was to determine whether ADD is associated with levels of cognitive impairment in memory clinic patients. Methods & procedures: We analyzed written texts collected in clinical practice from 114 participants with subjective cognitive impairment, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimers disease during routine assessment at a memory clinic. ADD was measured using automated analysis methods consisting of a syntactic parser and a part-of-speech tagger. Outcomes & results: Our results show a significant association between ADD and levels of cognitive impairment, using ordinal logistic regression models. Conclusion: These results suggest that ADD is clinically relevant with regard to levels of cognitive impairment and indicate a diagnostic potential for ADD in cognitive assessment.
|
|
| 8. |
- Myrberg, Karin, et al.
(författare)
-
Instances of trouble in aphasia and dementia : an analysis of trouble domain and interactional consequences
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 36:11, s. 1333-1350
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Language problems in dementia resemble the symptoms of aphasia in many respects. Persons with aphasia (PWA) and persons with dementia (PWD) present rather similar results on standardised language tests and cognitive screening tools. There is limited research that compares PWA's and PWD's language abilities, and a particularly small number of studies have an interactional focus. Aims In this study, we will contribute to the emergent discussion about interaction in aphasia and dementia. The aim was to investigate instances of trouble in conversations involving PWD, PWA and speech and language pathologists (SLPs), with a particular focus on trouble domain and interactional consequences. Methods & Procedures Ten PWD and 10 PWA were video-recorded during informal conversations with SLPs. Ten minutes of each conversation were transcribed thoroughly according to Conversation Analytical principles and instances of trouble were identified and calculated throughout the data. Thereafter, the instances of trouble were categorised by trouble domain: as connected to either primarily linguistic or cognitive issues. Outcomes & results At first glance, the conversations between the PWD and PWA seemed rather similar when looking at the number of turns and the number of instances of trouble. The analyses, however, reveal that significantly more turns were spent on trouble solving in the conversations involving the PWA. The vast majority of the troubles involving the PWA were categorised as being connected primarily to linguistic issues, whereas trouble among the PWD were more evenly distributed between the trouble domains. The SLPs took a more active role in supporting the conversations of the PWA than for the PWD. Conclusions The results indicate that many conversational troubles involving PWD are connected to primarily linguistic issues. However, PWD seem to have less severe linguistic problems compared to PWA. The analyses also reveal that many of the language problems described in PWD might be a direct consequence of cognitive issues, and that SLPs may take a more passive role in trouble solving in conversations involving PWD. The lack of personal common ground and preconceived notions about the medical conditions are discussed as potential motives for the SLPs' behaviour. The analysis of instances of trouble in informal conversations might contribute to both research and clinical assessment of language abilities in PWA and PWD.
|
|
| 9. |
- Westberg, Johannes, 1978-, et al.
(författare)
-
Winning the war by losing the battle? : The marketization of the expanding preschool sector in Sweden
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Journal of education policy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-0939 .- 1464-5106. ; 37:5, s. 705-722
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article analyzes how childcare vouchers were introduced in the context of the Swedish welfare state by examining vital political decisions from the prohibition of publicly funded private preschools in 1984 and onwards. Basing our argument on theories of political institutions and historical institutionalism, we argue that this remarkable shift in preschool policy was due to a set of specific historical premises that included an expanding preschool sector and incremental reforms that did not abolish public preschools, but merely complemented them with private preschools. Instead of perceiving childcare vouchers as the mere results of marketization ideology, we interpret this reform as the result of a sequence of decisions, institutional layering, vested interests, and positive feedback mechanisms, where the expansion of the early care and education sector played a significant role. In this context, we argue that the marketization may be seen as a successful support of the rapidly growing sector of publicly funded preschools in Sweden. Although the Social Democrats lost the battle of marketization, they certainly won the war on publicly funded preschools for all.
|
|
| 10. |
- Henriksson, Ingrid, 1961, et al.
(författare)
-
Public awareness of aphasia – results of a Swedish sample
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Aphasiology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0268-7038 .- 1464-5041. ; 33:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Background: Public awareness of a condition like aphasia may affect service provision and everyday life communication for people affected by the condition. Nevertheless, studies have shown that the public awareness of aphasia is low in many countries. Aims: This study explores awareness and knowledge of aphasia among the general public in Sweden. Methods & Procedures: We describe two surveys on the public awareness of aphasia undertaken using convenience samples in four different cities in southern Sweden. The questionnaire was closely based on those used in previous studies of aphasia awareness around the world. A total of 372 participants were recruited. Results are presented in terms of whether participants had heard of aphasia or not, and in the case that they had heard of it, whether they had a basic knowledge of the condition. Further analyses were undertaken on these three groups of participants: their gender and age distributions, educational background, what they knew about aphasia, and where they had learnt about it. Outcomes & Results: The results are discussed in comparison with similar surveys elsewhere, and we note the comparatively high percentage of participants who have heard of aphasia in our survey though, mirroring previous surveys, the amount of knowledge was often limited or incorrect. Unlike in other surveys, no clear relation was found between gender and awareness of aphasia, or education and awareness of aphasia. Age profiles and the source of participants’ information about aphasia were similar to earlier studies: that is, older people seem to have more aphasia awareness than younger people do. Further, media like TV, radio, newspapers, and magazines were the most often reported source for knowledge of aphasia. Conclusions: There is a need for further work to increase public awareness of aphasia and different forms of public media may play an important role in this endeavour.
|
|
