Aphasia and Spirituality Toolkit pilot study version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A feasibility study to pilot an assessment of spiritual health (‘SHALOM’) and a Spirituality Toolkit (‘WELLHEAD’) with people with Aphasia.
IRAS ID
216799
Contact name
Katharyn Mumby
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Weston Area Health NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 28 days
Research summary
This small-scale feasibility study aims to find out whether people with aphasia can complete a standard spiritual health assessment not yet used with this population (‘SHALOM’, Fisher 2010), and perceive benefit from supported conversation using the ‘WELLHEAD’ toolkit. The toolkit was developed by the lead applicant in collaboration with people with aphasia (language impairment) to maximise language accessibility, including people with visual and/or auditory problems (to maximise visual and/or auditory support), and adults of a range of ages and intellectual backgrounds.
• WELLHEAD is a framework to shape dialogue about spiritual growth
• It offers graded starter questions in 4 dimensions: WIDE LONG HIGH and DEEP to help people think about and express ideas about their spiritual needs
• It is designed to be widely accessible (in terms of communication skills and processing ability)
Communication barriers for people with aphasia often prevent them from accessing assessments requiring verbal skills. By exploring whether a) SHALOM and b) WELLHEAD are beneficial and accessible to people with aphasia, the pilot study lays the foundations for an approach that could have much wider applications (in dementia, the elderly etc.). The development and delivery of the project is supported by Weston Area Health Trust with the work being in the researcher’s own time.
Ten participants with aphasia who have completed their Outpatient speech and language therapy at Weston General Hospital and consented to be involved in the research will invited to attend a one-off session to complete the ‘SHALOM’ assessment and the ‘WELLHEAD’ toolkit, followed by a feedback questionnaire within a short semi-structured interview.
The results of the assessment and toolkit, together with the questionnaire and interview data will be analysed to see how the materials should be developed for a larger study looking at whether intervention improves spirituality scores and reduces the incidence of depression.REC name
South West - Frenchay Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SW/0076
Date of REC Opinion
17 May 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion