Need for Human Interaction and Acknowledging Communication—An Interview Study With Patients With Aphasia Following Stroke

Aim: To explore stroke patients' experiences of the communicative practice during their hospitalisation and describe strategies and supporting communication techniques applied by patients and nursing staff from the patient's perspective. Design: A qualitative descriptive study was undertaken. Methods: A qualitative approach was chosen; through a purposeful sample strategy, 13 semi-structed interviews with 12 patients who had aphasia following stroke, and one patient had dysarthria. The interviews were video-recorded and partially transcribed. Data were analysed according to Graneheim and Lundman's content analysis. Interview data were collected in 2022. Results: The analysis generated one overarching theme; Being acknowledged as an equal human being as it appeared to be a pervasive and underlying trait across the four categories; Waking up to a new communicative reality, A task-oriented communicative agenda, Misunderstandings as a communicative dead end and Establishing a communication-friendly environment: peace, patience and supporting techniques, describing the immediate and descriptive level. The patients did not seem to encounter a systematic approach to communication. They perceived the health care staff's communication as primarily task and purpose-oriented, lacking deeper conversations, which seemed to leave several with unmet emotional and psychological needs. Emotional, relational and existential aspects seemed interwoven in communication. Conclusion: These findings contribute by illuminating an important patient perspective and ultimately, raising the point that from the perspective of patients the nursing staff's communication was primarily task and purpose oriented, and they lacked deeper conversations. Hence also raises the point that the use of supportive communication strategies alone will allow nursing staff to meet the existential needs of patients with aphasia. Supported communication needs to address compassionate and acknowledging aspects of communication. No Patient or Public Contribution in this paper.