A Visual Interactive Narrative Intervention (VINI) for aphasia education: Can digital applications administer augmented input to educate stroke survivors with aphasia?

Objective: Persons with aphasia (PWA) face additional barriers to proper healthcare due to inadequate patient education by health professionals unequipped to use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The current study examines a digital application that evokes and sustains health information processing through AAC specifically aimed at increasing comprehension with augmented input (AI). Methods: A digital application designed to educate PWA about their health condition was compared to a video-recorded doctor providing oral-only education. Sixteen PWA received both education interventions in a crossover manner. Health information processing was assessed through heart rate (HR) and skin conductance levels (SCL), which were collected continually during each administration of education interventions. Results: PWA demonstrated greater cognitive processing of health information via HR and SCL indices during the digital application compared to the typical oral-only education intervention. The oral-only intervention led PWA to disengage with health information. Conclusion: By combining visuographic materials and adapted language into a customizable narrative structure, digital applications can utilize AI to educate PWA about basic health information (i.e., diagnosis and prognosis). Practice Implications: The current study's AAC requires minimal training and can be used as an aided support in conjunction with other techniques that increase PWA's access to health information.