Symposium

Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System

Clinical Practice (assessment, diagnosis, treatment, knowledge translation/EBP, implementation science, program development)

Stroke

Demystifying Aphasia Treatment Using the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS)

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

4:45 PM – 6:00 PM

Presenter(s)

Jean K. Gordon, PhD, CCC-SLP

Associate Professor
University of Iowa
Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Slides Slides and Audio
Natalie Gilmore, PhD, CCC-SLP

Postdoctoral Fellow
Massachusetts General Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Slides
Leora R. Cherney, PhD, CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS, FACRM

Scientific Chair and Professor
Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Northwestern University
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Swathi Kiran, Ph.D CCC-SLP

Professor of Neurorehabilitation,Founding Director, Center for Brain Recovery
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Slides
Jeanne Zanca, MPT, PhD, FACRM

IRB Chair/Assistant Director, Spinal Cord Injury Research
Kessler Foundation
West Orange, New Jersey, United States
GD

Gayle DeDe, PhD, CCC-SLP

Associate Research Professor
Temple University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Elizabeth Hoover, PhD., CCC-SLP, BC-ANCDS

Clinical Professor
Boston University
Stoughton, Massachusetts, United States

Slides

Although the efficacy of aphasia treatment has been demonstrated, most aphasia treatment research has been more concerned with whether or not treatments work, rather than how and why they work. One of the major barriers to progress is the lack of a common framework to describe treatments. Such a framework would allow more accurate comparison of evidence across studies, and facilitate communication among researchers and clinicians. We describe how aphasia treatments can be systematically characterized using the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS). Treatments discussed include neurobiological approaches, in which treatment mechanisms are defined at neuroanatomical or neurophysiological levels; cognitive-linguistic approaches, which target linguistic processes and/or their cognitive foundations; and functional communication approaches, which aim to enhance multimodal communicative success in ecologically valid contexts. We will outline the application of the RTSS to specific aphasia treatments and discuss advantages and limitations of the framework within clinical aphasiology.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, participants will be able to define the elements of the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System (RTSS): aims, targets, ingredients, mechanisms of action, and treatment components.
Upon completion, participants will be able to outline a variety of specific treatment approaches within the RTSS framework.
Upon completion, participants will be able to describe ongoing challenges in the quest to strengthen the evidence base for aphasia therapies.