Life satisfaction and aphasia: an integrative review with recommendations for future research

ABSTRACTBackground: Recent legislation in the United States has called for greater use of patient-reported outcomes to assess treatment effectiveness. Life satisfaction is a patient-reported outcome that is only recently receiving attention in the aphasia literature. Understanding life satisfaction among persons with aphasia (PWA) is critical to developing strategies that will assist these individuals in managing their lives after experiencing aphasia.Aims: The aim of this paper is to review life satisfaction among PWA for the purpose of stimulating further discussion and research.Main Contribution: We identified five studies with mixed results relating to life satisfaction after aphasia. Understanding life satisfaction among PWA is important as it reflects the individual’s response to this life changing communication disorder. However, the influence of a range of issues remains unclear with regard to life satisfaction and aphasia, including (a) the contributions of the individual’s clinical and sociodemo...