Samtalsmatta som kommunikationsstöd i grupp för personer med afasi

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine how TalkingMats® can be used to support communication in a group of people with aphasia. Four people with aphasia and their group leader participated. Comparison was made between group discussion with and without Talking Mats. The participants used one Talking Mat each. The group discussions were videotaped and analysed. Two interviews were made with the participants. The results showed no statistically significant differences in total communication effectiveness between the two conversation types but indicate that Talking Mats can be helpful for individuals with severe communication disabilities. Significantly shorter time was spent on each question while using Talking Mats, yet the participants experienced that they were able to say what they wanted to say to a greater extent. The majority of the participants found the method positive. More research is necessary in order to generalize the results to the population with aphasia