EFFICACY OF APHASIA INTERVENTION IN MANDARIN: CASE STUDY EVALUATION OF TWO TREATMENT APPROACHES FOR MANDARIN-ENGLISH BILINGUALS

Abstract

There is a dearth of aphasia treatment research on Mandarin and communication-based treatments. Two single-subject experimental studies were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of an impairment-based approach targeting verbs, the Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST), and a conversation-based approach targeting functional communication, Better Conversations with Aphasia (BCA), conducted in Mandarin. To obtain a detailed profile of participants’ proficiency in both English and Mandarin, the Comprehensive Aphasia Test was adapted for Singapore Mandarin (SMACAT). Changes in Mandarin and English were assessed at several linguistic levels, functional communication, and emotional well-being. All participants showed varying but widespread patterns of generalisation suggesting that treatments administered in Mandarin are effective. Analyses of generalisation patterns at the different linguistic levels suggest that the two treatments are complementary – VNeST facilitated greater generalisation to lower linguistic levels while BCA had greater impact on communication-focused outcomes. Aphasia severity, cognition, codeswitching, cultural factors and tele-rehabilitation influenced treatment outcomes.