At the end of May, Anna Caute and Luiza Deaconescu travelled to Pittsburgh for the Clinical Aphasiology Conference. This is one of the main Speech and Language Therapy conferences in the US focusing on aphasia, a communication disability caused by damage to the brain, usually following a stroke.

Anna and Luiza presented key findings from the HARP Aphasia Study, which explored how smart-camera apps could be used to facilitate communication for people with aphasia. The study was funded by an NIHR Research for Patient Benefit grant in 2024-25. This film summarises the study’s aims and key findings.

The presentation began with an overview of the literature about using assistive technology to support reading. Anna summarised key findings from the team’s recently published scoping review, Uses of assistive technology incorporating smart camera features in the rehabilitation of people living with disabilities: a scoping review in Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology. This review highlighted the lack of evidence about using smart camera technology to support people with communication disabilities.  The presentation demonstrated the features of smart camera apps using video clips and explained how participants with aphasia taking part in focus groups selected two preferred apps, Seeing AI and Google Lens.

Luiza then highlighted the wide range of ideas that participants in the study generated when considering potential uses of the technology, including using apps to help with talking, reading, and writing. We used case examples to illustrate how participants have used the technology in their everyday lives. For example, one participant now uses it daily to read independently, meaning that he no longer relies on family members to help him read his correspondence. More recently he has started using the app to read novels for enjoyment.

There was a lot of interest in the presentation from other attendees, including a team of researchers exploring the use of assistive technology to support reading. One attendee put Anna and Luiza in contact with an aphasia non-profit organisation in Rhode Island, where members are interested in using smart camera technology to support their communication skills.

Other presentations included studies exploring bilingual aphasia, developing novel outcome measures and a fascinating presentation about ethnic disparities in stroke by a neurologist, Professor Bruce Ovbiagele. The conference also featured roundtable discussions where delegates could discuss topics, such as the use of AI in aphasia treatment.

The conference was intense, running from 8am to 6.30 every day, but Luiza and Anna found time to explore Pittsburgh, visiting the Andy Warhol museum and attending a baseball game, where the Pittsburgh Pirates were convincingly defeated by the Chicago Cubs.

 

written by:

Dr Anna Caute, Lecturer
Speech and Language Therapy
School of Health and Social Care
University of Essex