Intervention for Communication Quality of Life in Primary Progressive Aphasia

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a personalized, multi-component, virtual speech language treatment program can improve communication and quality of life for adults with primary progressive aphasia (PPA) and their primary communication partners. The study will enroll participants who speak English and/or Spanish.

The main questions the study aims to answer are:

* Is the telerehabilitation program feasible and acceptable for people with PPA and their study partners?
* Do participants with PPA and study partners find treatment beneficial?
* What patterns of treatment response are seen in participants?
* Which outcome measures are most useful for evaluating changes in communication and quality of life?

Researchers will compare participants who receive intervention immediately to participants assigned to a waitlist control group (who will receive treatment after a delay) to see whether participation in the treatment program is associated with improvements in communication and quality of life.

Participants will:

* Take part in speech language therapy sessions delivered by video visit that combine restorative, compensatory, and partner-focused communication strategies. Treatment may take place after a waiting period.
* Receive education and communication training together with their partner.
* Complete speech, language, and cognitive assessments.
* Complete questionnaires about communication abilities, daily functioning, and quality of life.

Conditions

• Primary Progressive Aphasia(PPA)
• Semantic Dementia
• Logopenic Progressive Aphasia (LPA)
• Nonfluent Aphasia, Progressive
• Progressive Aphasia
• Semantic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (svPPA)
• Semantic Aphasia
• Logopenic Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia
• Logopenic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (LPA)
• Logopenic Progressive Aphasia
• Nonfluent Variant Primary Progressive Aphasia (nfvPPA)
• Nonfluent Progressive Aphasia

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Multicomponent Lexical Retrieval Cascade Training

In person or via teletherapy: A multi-component treatment incorporating elements of restitutive, compensatory, and care-partner focused interventions. Participants work on producing names of personally relevant targets in multiple communication modalities. Biweekly (45-90 minute) sessions with a clinician target multimodal communication and the use of strategies to support word retrieval. These skills are also trained via daily independent practice. The participant meets six times during the course of treatment with a study partner (e.g., spouse) for communication counseling, education, and practice of communication strategies.

BEHAVIORAL

Multicomponent Video Implemented Script Training in Aphasia

In person or via teletherapy: A multi-component treatment incorporating elements of restitutive, compensatory, and care-partner focused interventions. Treatment focuses on production of individually-tailored, personally relevant scripts. The participant completes 30 minutes per day of independent practice, during which they speak in unison with a video model. Biweekly (45-90 minute) sessions with a clinician target clear and accurate script production, memorization, and conversational usage, as well as multimodal communication. The participant meets six times during the course of treatment with a study partner (e.g., spouse) for communication counseling, education, and practice of communication strategies.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• National Institute on Aging (NIA)

  collaborator NIH

• Maya Henry

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Maya L Henry, PhD · University of Texas at Austin

• Stephanie M Grasso, PhD · University of Texas at Austin

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-01

Primary Completion

2027-08-31

Completion

2027-08-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations