Effectiveness of communication/interaction strategies with patients who have neurological injuries in a rehabilitation setting

Primary objective: A correlational research design was used to examine the relationship between use of interaction strategies and success of interactions between patients with neurological injuries and licensed healthcare providers. It was hypothesized that using specific interaction strategies would increase the success of interactions between patients and staff. Methods and procedures: One hundred and two 5-minute interactions between licensed healthcare providers and adults with neurogenic cognitive-linguistic impairments were videotaped. Staff members involved in the interactions completed a questionnaire stating how successful they felt the interaction was and what positively or negatively impacted the interaction. Five speech-language pathologists viewed the interactions, rated the overall success of each, reported which interaction strategies they observed being used and indicated which strategies they felt most positively impacted the interactions. Results: Use of communication strategies aided the interactions. It was found that as more strategies were used success of the interactions increased. Conclusions: Interactions were aided by the use of communication strategies, especially when multiple strategies were used. Some strategies were more beneficial than others. Training staff in the use of communication strategies may help improve patients’ satisfaction and success in rehabilitation.