Aphasia Assessment in Singapore

Abstract

This research provides novel insight into the field of aphasia in Singapore. The aims were to (a) investigate the current state of aphasia practice in Singapore including the use of functional outcome and remote assessments in practice (Part One) and, (b) investigate the validity of two assessment tools for use with Singaporeans with aphasia which would enable functional outcomes of aphasia to be captured (Part Two), and (c) examine remote assessment of aphasia in the Singapore context (Part Three). Part One, Chapter One provides an overview of aphasia assessment, while Chapter Two provides an overview of the methods used in the study. Chapter Three describes the current speech pathology practices in Singapore for aphasia. The findings of this study provided justification for the subsequent parts of the thesis. Part Two, Chapter Four, describes the validation of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life (SAQOL-39g) and its Mandarin adaptation, the SAQOL-CSg, in generic stroke patients. This study resulted in two separate papers, one examining the reliability and validity of the SAQOL-39g and SAQOL-CSg and the other examining sensitivity to change and responsiveness of the SAQOL-39g/SAQOL-CSg. Chapter Five describes the validation of the Assessment of Living with Aphasia (ALA) and its Mandarin adaptation, the ALA-C, in Singaporeans with chronic aphasia. Both the ALA and ALA-C demonstrated good reliability and validity. Part Three, Chapter Six describes the development of Access2Aphasia™, an iPad-based aphasia assessment application that enables the use of supported conversation techniques. Chapter Seven investigates the reliability of telehealth aphasia assessment using Access2Aphasia™. Online aphasia assessment was found to be comparable to face-to-face assessment. Part Four concludes with a summary of the main contributions of this thesis to aphasia assessment and management in Singapore, its limitations and suggestions for future research.