Zentrum für Sprachtherapie

ABSTRACT Background Clinical practice guidelines support the use of aphasia therapy to reduce language impairment and communication disability. Aphasia is a heterogeneous condition and many therapy approaches are used in clinical practice. Selecting appropriate therapies and accessing therapy resources can be challenging for clinicians. The Aphasia Therapy Finder (ATF) is an implementation tool for speech-language pathologists designed to bridge the evidence-practice gap in aphasia rehabilitation. Methods & Procedures Discussions with speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and an international survey confirmed that therapists struggle to stay abreast of the latest aphasia rehabilitation evidence. SLPs’ priorities informed the development of the ATF. Initially, a prototype web-based repository of therapy descriptions and resources was developed and tested with clinicians around the world. Following user testing, additional content was developed and deployed on the ATF. Outcomes The ATF is a free searchable database (www.aphasiatherapyfinder.com) that contains detailed therapy descriptions for 25 evidence-based aphasia therapies and links to the resources clinicians need to use the therapies in their clinics. Therapy descriptions have been rigorously produced with input from over 60 aphasia researchers. User testing has validated the ATF functionality and content. Conclusion The Aphasia Therapy Finder provides a mechanism to reduce the evidence-practice gap in aphasia rehabilitation and, thereby, improve access to high quality evidence-based therapy for people with aphasia around the world. Future work will expand the ATF and evaluate its utility as an implementation tool.