Virtual Speech Therapy to Improve Communication and Quality of Life in Adults with Primary Progressive Aphasia and Their Partners

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating a personalized, multi-component virtual speech language treatment program designed to improve communication and quality of life for adults with primary progressive aphasia PPA and their main communication partners. The study focuses on the feasibility, acceptability, and benefits of this telerehabilitation program, comparing immediate treatment to a waitlist control group. The trial includes English andor Spanish speakers and aims to identify useful outcome measures and patterns of treatment response. Participants will receive speech language therapy sessions delivered by video that combine restorative, compensatory, and partner-focused communication strategies. Those in the waitlist control group will have an initial assessment followed by a 12 or 13-week waiting period before treatment begins. The immediate treatment group will start therapy right after assessment. Treatments include two specific multi-component programs Multicomponent Lexical Retrieval Cascade Training and Multicomponent Video Implemented Script Training in Aphasia, both involving clinician-led sessions and independent practice alongside communication counseling with a study partner. During the study, participants and their partners will complete speech, language, and cognitive assessments, as well as questionnaires about communication abilities, daily functioning, and quality of life. Researchers will measure changes in spoken naming, script production accuracy, dyad conversation, and communication modality, along with secondary measures like aphasia impact and caregiver quality of life. Follow-up assessments occur three months post-treatment to monitor outcomes and participant experiences throughout the trial.

Intervention for Communication Quality of Life in Primary Progressive Aphasia