Candidacy for conversation partner training in aphasia: findings from a Dutch implementation study

Background: Aphasia rehabilitation should comprise a family-centred approach, involving main conversation partners in the rehabilitation process as soon as possible. A standardised approach to conversation partner training (CPT) became available in the Netherlands with the release of Partners of Aphasic clients Conversation Training (PACT). PACT was introduced in clinical practice in a multi-centre implementation study with 34 participating dyads.Aims: To explore candidacy for CPT by describing the characteristics of dyads where the conversation partner engaged in CPT and to identify which characteristics had the potential to predict benefit of PACT.Methods and Procedures: A pre-post treatment design was used in a multi-centre study. Pre- and post-CPT measures of psychosocial characteristics (caregiver burden, depression and coping) from the partner and behavioural characteristics (cognitive, linguistic and communicative) from the person with aphasia (PWA) were collected. Partner experience was assessed u...