Defense Date

5-18-2020

Graduation Date

Summer 8-8-2020

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MSSLP

Department

Speech-Language Pathology (SLP)

School

Rangos School of Health Sciences

Committee Chair

Sarah Wallace

Committee Member

Caterina Staltari

Committee Member

Elena Donoso-Brown

Committee Member

James Schreiber

Keywords

aphasia, aphasia-friendly, reading comprehension, medication, medication management

Abstract

Accessible health information supports people to understand and manage chronic medical conditions and is frequently presented via text. Comprehension of written health information becomes more difficult for people with language impairments, such as aphasia. Nine people with aphasia (PWA) and nine people without aphasia (PWoA), participated in this study. Each participant reviewed two unmodified medication instructions and two modified medication instructions using aphasia-friendly principles, then answered eight multiple choice questions and provided their preferences. Results showed that PWA demonstrated improved comprehension given modifications, but PWoA’s comprehension did not improve with modifications. Group comparison in the modified condition demonstrated that PWoA still demonstrated higher comprehension compared to PWA. Most participants, in both groups, preferred aphasia-friendly instructions. This study highlights the need for further improvements to be made to the health care system to support comprehension and independence of all persons with regard to readability of complex health information.

Language

English

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