Episode #90: Texting for Success in Aphasia Rehabilitation - A Conversation with Jaime Lee
Interviewer I'm Ellen Bernstein-Ellis, Program Specialist and Clinical Supervisor for the Aphasia Treatment Program at Cal State East Bay and a member of the Aphasia Access Podcast Working Group. AA's strives to provide members with information, inspiration, and ideas that support their aphasia care through a variety of educational materials and resources. Today, I have the honor of speaking with Dr. Jaime Lee who was selected as a 2022 Tavistock Distinguished Scholar. We'll discuss her research interests and do a deeper five into her work involving the study of texting behaviors of individuals with aphasia and her efforts to develop an outcome measure that looks at success at the transactional level of message exchange. As we frame our podcast episodes in terms of the Gap Areas identified in the 2017 Aphasia Access State of Aphasia Report by Nina Simmons-Mackie, today's episode best addresses Gap areas: 5. Insufficient attention to life participation across the continuum of care; 6. Insufficient training and protocols or guidelines to aid implementation of participation-oriented intervention across the continuum of care; 7. Insufficient or absent communication access for people with aphasia or other communication barriers For more information about the Gap areas, you can listen to episode #62 with Dr. Liz Hoover or go to the Aphasia Access website. Guest bio Jaime Lee is an Associate Professor in the department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at James Madison University. Jaime's clinical experience goes back nearly 20 years when she worked as an inpatient rehab SLP at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago (now Shirley Ryan Ability Lab). She later worked for several years as a Research SLP in Leora Cherney's Center for Aphasia Research and Treatment. Jaime earned her PhD at the University of Oregon, where she studied with McKay Sohlberg. Her research interests have included evaluating computer-delivered treatments to improve language skills in aphasia, including script training and ORLA, examining facilitation of aphasia groups, and most recently, exploring text messaging to improve participation, social connection and quality of life in IWA. Listener Take-aways In today's episode you will: Learn about why texting might be a beneficial communication mode for IwA Explore the reasons it's important to consider the communication partner in the texting dyad Find out more about measures examining texting behaviors, like the Texting Transactional Success (TTS) tool. Consider how Conversational Analysis may be helpful in understanding texting interactions Edited show notes Ellen Bernstein-Ellis Jaime, welcome to the podcast today. I'm so excited that we finally get to talk to you. And I want to offer a shout out because you mentioned two mentors and colleagues who I just value so much, McKay Solberg and Leora Cherney, and I'm so excited that you've also had them as mentors. Jaime Lee 02:44 Thanks, Ellen. It's really great to talk with you today. And speaking of shout outs, I feel like I have to give you a shout out because I was so excited to meet you earlier this summer at IARC. We met at a breakfast. And it was exciting because I got to tell you that I assigned to my students your efficacy of aphasia group paper, so it was really fun to finally meet you in person. Ellen Bernstein-Ellis 03:11 Thank you, that is the paper that Roberta Elman was first author on. I was really proud to be part of that. I was excited to get to come over and congratulate you at the breakfast on your Tavistock award. I think it's very, very deserving. And I'm excited today that we can explore your work and get to know each other better. And I'm just going to start with this question about the Tavistock. Can you share with our listeners what you think the benefits of the Tavistock Distinguished Scholar Award will be to your work? Jaime Lee 03:43 Sure, I think first off being selected as a Tavistock Distinguished Scholar has been really validating