Queensland Aphasia Research Centre (QARC)
Optimising the lives of people with Aphasia
How successful are conversations between people with aphasia and their primary conversation partner?
Validation of The Measure Dyadic Conversation in Aphasia (MDCA)
The aim of this project was to develop and validate a questionnaire to measure if you and your conversation partner are having successful conversations together.
Key outcomes of this research
We have a new way to measure how successful a couple's conversation is when one person has aphasia.
Background
Conversation is important to people with aphasia and their conversation partner.
Successful conversations can mean successful relationships.
Speech therapy for conversation can help; however, it is hard to measure if the therapy has improved conversations.
What did the research involve?
- We gathered 190 ideas from people with aphasia and their conversation partners about what makes their conversations successful.
- We made 2 new questionnaires to measure success in conversations for people with aphasia and their primary conversation partner. (MDCA-Aphasia, MDCA- Partner)
- We included some questions about relationships.
- We asked 8 couples living with aphasia some questions about the content.
What did researchers find?
The MDCA allows you to report how you and your communication partner use communication strategies and coping strategies that make conversations successful with each other.
Research team
Dr Annette Rotherham
Professor Claire Croteau
Professor Katerina Hilari
