5564V - Telehealth Administration of Narrative and Procedural Discourse for TBI: A UK and USA Comparison Study

Impaired discourse production is commonly reported for individuals with TBI. Discourse deficits can negatively impact community integration, return to employment, and quality of life. COVID-19 restrictions have reduced in-person assessment services for people with communication impairments. Advances in telehealth may help SLPs to assess discourse more systematically and improve access to services for patients who may find it difficult to attend in-person. The present study examined the feasibility of telehealth administration of narrative and procedural discourse tasks to individuals with TBI and matched controls. Results support the feasibility of collecting discourse samples via telehealth. Although the participants’ discourse performance distinguished the TBI and control groups on the narrative task, no differences between the groups were noted for the procedural task.