title: An evidence-based systematic review on communication treatments for individuals with right hemisphere brain damage.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this review is to evaluate and summarize the research evidence related to the treatment of individuals with right hemisphere communication disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  A comprehensive search of the literature using key words related to right hemisphere brain damage and communication treatment was conducted in 27 databases (e.g., PubMed, CINAHL). On the basis of a set of pre-established clinical questions, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and search parameters, studies investigating sentence- or discourse-level treatments were identified and evaluated for methodological quality. Data regarding participant, intervention, and outcome variables were reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only 5 studies were identified, each representing a different sentence- or discourse-level treatment approach and reporting a wide range of prosodic, expressive, receptive, and pragmatic outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although the state of the evidence pertaining to right hemisphere communication treatments is at a very preliminary stage, some positive findings were identified to assist speech-language pathologists who are working with individuals with right hemisphere brain damage. Clinical implications and recommendations for future research are explored.
authors.affiliation: University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lehman Blake
authors.forename: Tobi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Frymark
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Venedictov
mesh_terms: D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000628:therapy*; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D055317:Evidence-Based Practice; D006801:Humans; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000628:therapy; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000379:methods*