Digital Therapy Apps: A New Pathway for Stroke Patients' Speech Recovery

Stroke, a leading cause of disability worldwide, often results in speech impairment, leaving patients struggling to regain their ability to communicate. Traditional speech therapy can be beneficial, but it's not always accessible for everyone, especially in the midst of a global pandemic. However, the rise of digital therapy apps has transformed the landscape of rehabilitation and recovery, providing new hope for stroke patients. A recent study by UCL and The Lancet has indicated that a digital therapy app can significantly improve speech in stroke patients, opening a new chapter for speech therapy in healthcare.

Revolutionizing Rehabilitation with the Constant Therapy App

Constant Therapy is a pioneer in digital therapy applications, especially designed for individuals recovering from stroke, traumatic brain injury (TBI), aphasia, dementia, and other neurological conditions. Offering over 500,000 evidence-based exercises across 90 therapy areas with up to 10 difficulty levels, the app has been backed by 17 peer-reviewed research studies. Renowned speech language pathologists, neurologists, and clinicians at hospitals, clinics, and rehabilitation facilities have endorsed the app. Its innovative use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) guides users through unlimited therapy exercises, promoting faster improvement and better outcomes. In fact, the app has been shown to provide patients with 5x more therapy practice.

The Emergence of Telerehabilitation

With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, telerehabilitation has emerged as a popular alternative to traditional rehabilitation. As this source explains, telerehabilitation refers to the delivery of rehabilitation at a distance using electronic communication. It's not confined to speech and language therapy, but also extends to physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and cognitive therapy. This is a crucial development as the majority of stroke patients live in the community and are a mix of subacute and chronic populations.

Combining Telerehabilitation and Cognitive Training

While telerehabilitation is making waves in the healthcare sector, combining it with cognitive training has shown to be especially effective for neurological patients, including those recovering from a stroke. A paper in Frontiers in Neurology emphasizes the potential of this combination, not only in reducing healthcare costs and improving continuity of care, but also in benefiting patients and their families. The paper further highlights the significant impact of dual tasks cognitive training and exercise on cognitive function among older adults.

Optimizing Communication for Aphasia Patients

There's no denying the importance of effective communication in promoting person-centred care and better health outcomes. This is especially true for people with aphasia, a common condition resulting from stroke, who often face communication challenges with healthcare workers. A research paper in Link Springer suggests that the future of research should focus on optimizing communication between healthcare workers and people with aphasia in hospitals to ensure their full participation in their own healthcare.

Indeed, the advent of digital therapy apps, like Constant Therapy, and the rise of telerehabilitation have revolutionized stroke patients' speech recovery. As the technology evolves, it is hoped that more and more stroke patients will regain their speech abilities and improve their quality of life. The future of speech therapy is here, and it's digital.