Social participation : the perception of four people with stroke-induced aphasia

Abstract

Literature shows that aphasia can profoundly impact the individual’s level of social participation (SP). The purpose of this study was to describe how four Maltese people with stroke-induced aphasia experienced and perceived their participation in life, and which factors influenced their levels of perceived SP. A self-constructed case-history was used to gain demographic information about the participants, as well as information about how SP changed following the stroke. All participants were tested on a language screening assessment and interviewed using the Assessment for Living with Aphasia (ALA). The latter is a pictographic, self-report measure of aphasia-related quality of life, and includes questions which yield information about the language impairment, life participation, personal factors and environmental factors from the perspective of people with aphasia (PWA). Results indicated that all four participants experienced activity limitations and participation restrictions in different life domains. In particular, the social contacts and social activities of all participants were found to be significantly decreased and altered. Individual variation ranging from high to low satisfaction was revealed in terms of how the participants perceived their own SP. Participating in more social activities and having a wider social network did not enhance their self-satisfaction with SP. This indicated that the participants gave more importance to the quality rather than to the quantity of their performance. Personal factors like having a positive psychological attitude and a sense of coping and managing, together with environmental factors like having better relationships and social support, were shown to greatly influence how SP was perceived by the four participants.