Conversation partner training for Spanish people with aphasia and their partners: a case study

Abstract

Conversation partner training (CPT) has shown benefits and improvements in the communicative skills of interlocutors (Simmons-Mackie, Raymer, Armstrong, Holland, & Cherney, 2010; Wielaert, van de Sandt-Koenderman, Dammers, & Sage, 2016). CPT aims to increase the communicative effectiveness between the person with aphasia and their communication partner, though the programmes vary in terms of participant selection, methods used and ways of evaluating their effects. While this kind of treatment option has been on offer, for some time, in English-speaking countries, it has yet to be integrated into Spanish clinical practice where it is not well-known. In order to make any headway when introducing this programme into Spanish clinical practice, it is important to understand the socio-cultural variables which might influence whether conversation partner programme is taken up in this context. This single case study (ABA design) comes from a larger implementation study in Spain where this treatment is compared to a control condition.