A virtual yoga practice for people with aphasia (Bislick et al., 2023)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the feasibility of a virtual, adapted, aphasia-friendly yoga program for people with aphasia; (b) evaluate evidence of improvement in patient-reported outcomes and word retrieval; (c) explore the immediate impact of a yoga session on participant subjective emotional state; and (d) assess participant motivation and perceived benefits of participating in a yoga program.

Method: This feasibility study employed a mixed-method design to document the feasibility of a virtual, 8-week adapted yoga program. A pre-/posttreatment design was used to assess patient-reported outcome measures for resilience, stress, sleep, and pain, as well as word-finding abilities. Semistructured interviews with participants were thematically analyzed to provide insight into participants’ motivation and perceptions regarding their experience.

Results: Comparisons of pre- and postprogram group means suggest that participation in an 8-week adapted yoga program may positively impact perceptions of resilience (large effect), stress (medium effect), sleep disturbance (medium effect), and pain (small effect) for people with aphasia. Findings from within-session reports and brief, semistructured interviews with participants indicated positive outcomes and subjective experiences and suggest that people with aphasia are motivated to participate in yoga for a variety of reasons.

Conclusions: This study is an important first step in confirming the feasibility of an adapted, aphasia-friendly yoga program offered via a remote platform for people with aphasia. The findings support recent work suggesting that yoga may be a potent adjunct to traditional rehabilitation efforts to improve resilience and psychosocial aspects in persons with aphasia.

Supplemental Material S1. Description of the aphasia-friendly yoga program.

Supplemental Material S2. Yoga teacher aphasia-friendly training.

Supplemental Material S3. Comparisons of group means and effect sizes pre- vs. post-yoga.

Supplemental Material S4. Y02 brief interview transcription.

Supplemental Material S5. Y03 brief interview transcription.

Supplemental Material S6. Y04 brief interview transcription.

Supplemental Material S7. Y05 brief interview transcription.

Supplemental Material S8. Y06 brief interview transcription.

Supplemental Material S9. Y07 brief interview transcription.

Supplemental Material S10. Y09 brief interview transcription.

Bislick, L., Dietz, A., Duncan, E. S., & Cornelius, K. (2023). The feasibility and benefits of a virtual yoga practice for stroke survivors with aphasia. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 32(4), 1679–1688. https://doi.org/10.1044/2023_AJSLP-22-00269