title: The living with dysarthria group: implementation and feasibility of a group intervention for people with dysarthria following stroke and family members.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The broad life implications of acquired dysarthria are recognized, but they have received little attention in stroke management. Reports of group therapy, which may be a suitable approach to intervention, are not available for stroke-related dysarthria.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the operational feasibility of and response to a new eight-session weekly group intervention programme, Living with Dysarthria, designed for people with chronic dysarthria following stroke and their main communication partners.
  
  
  METHODS
  The target participation was for programme completion by two groups of eight people with dysarthria (PWD) and available family members (FMs) or carers. An active recruitment strategy was undertaken from the speech and language therapy case records for the previous 6 years in two hospitals with combined annual stroke admissions of over 500 people. Twelve PWD and seven FMs were recruited (group 1: seven PWD and four FMs; group 2: five PWD and three FMs). Speech intelligibility, communication effectiveness, general well-being, quality of communication life, and knowledge of stroke and dysarthria were assessed pre- and post-programme. Each PWD and FM also set an individual goal and rated their achievement of this on a 0-10 scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recruitment to the programme was lower than anticipated and below target. The 12 PWD were recruited from 62 initial contacts, which was the total number who according to available information met the criteria. The programme was viable: it ran to plan, with only minor content alterations, in community accommodation, and with good participant engagement. Group median score changes were in a positive direction for all measures and effect sizes ranged from 0.17 (quality of communication life) to 0.46 (intelligibility). Significant post-programme changes were present for intelligibility and knowledge of stroke and dysarthria (p= 0.05). Participants' ratings of goal achievements ranged from 6 (some change) to 10 (a lot of change).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The recruitment experience revealed a take-up rate of around 20% from PWD following stroke, informing future planning. The participant engagement and performance results from the piloting of the programme indicate that the Living with Dysarthria programme is viable and has potential for effecting positive change. Further testing is justified.
authors.affiliation: University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. c.mackenzie@strath.ac.uk
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
authors.forename: Gillian
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paton
authors.forename: Shona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muir
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004401:Dysarthria / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011615:Psychotherapy, Group / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration; D020521:Stroke / Q000523:psychology*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation