Abstract
People with aphasia have been systematically excluded from stroke research or included
without the necessary modifications, threatening external study validity. In this
paper, we propose that 1) the inclusion of people with aphasia should be considered
as standard in stroke research irrespective of discipline and that 2) modifications
should be made to stroke research procedures to support people with aphasia to achieve
meaningful and valid inclusion. We argue that outright exclusion of this heterogenous
population from stroke research based purely on a diagnosis of aphasia is rarely required
and present a rationale for deliberate inclusion of people with aphasia in stroke
research. The purpose of this paper is fourfold: 1) to highlight the issue and implications
of excluding people with aphasia from stroke research; 2) to acknowledge the current
barriers to including people with aphasia in stroke research; 3) to provide stroke
researchers with methods to enable inclusion, including recommendations, resources,
and guidance; and 4) to consider research needed to develop aphasia inclusive practices
in stroke research.
Keywords
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: July 26, 2022
Accepted:
July 4,
2022
Received in revised form:
June 12,
2022
Received:
November 29,
2021
Footnotes
Funding: This research was supported by NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence grant (#1153236)
Disclosures: none.
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.
