The development of the Life Participation Approach to Aphasia knowledge scale and contribution to its validation.

Abstract

Purpose: The Life Participation Approach to Aphasia (LPAA) supports the notion of personalized intervention for individuals who are affected by aphasia. However, knowledge about LPAA among speech-language therapists (SLTs), professionals who support the communication rehabilitation of people with aphasia, is unknown. SLTs with an established understanding of LPAA may be more likely to apply the approach in their practices. However, there is a lack of valid and reliable tools to measure SLTs' knowledge about LPAA. We developed and evaluated the validity and reliability of a new tool to assess SLTs' knowledge of the LPAA.

Materials and methods: An initial scale was constructed and validated by a panel of LPAA experts. The scale was revised based on the recommendations from the panel. A total of 59 SLT participants completed the revised version on the Qualtrics Online Survey Platform.

Results: The scale achieved a Cronbach's alpha value of 0.73. The deletion of two items increased the alpha value to 0.80 and raised the total accuracy score.

Conclusions: The LPAA Knowledge Scale is a valid tool with good internal consistency to measure the knowledge of SLTs about the LPAA. This scale may be used to evaluate the effectiveness of LPAA training for SLTs, as well as a self-assessment tool for SLTs to reflect on the application of LPAA in their practices.