Article

Effective delivery of dysphagia exercises requires intensive repetition,
yet many brain injury survivors demonstrate difficulty adhering to home
programmes. The Television Assisted Prompting (TAP) system provides a novel
method to deliver intensive in-home therapy prompts. Specific research questions
compared the effectiveness of the TAP system to typical practice on programme
adherence, satisfaction and caregiver burden. METHOD. A within-participant
alternating treatment design with random assignment of treatment condition
compared exercise programme adherence across TAP and typical practice delivery
conditions, replicated across three participants. Data included quantitative
programme completion rates, satisfaction survey reports and caregiver burden
questionnaire results, as well as qualitative interview findings. RESULTS. A
large treatment effect was demonstrated for two participants; exercise programme
completion rates increased by 6-17 times typical practice levels with the TAP
system. TAP supported sustained practice over the course of the experiment for
the third participant despite minimal differences between conditions.
Participants reported high satisfaction and endorsed the TAP system. There was no
significant change in caregiver burden. CONCLUSION. The TAP system provided a
novel assistive tool to support home programme completion of intensive exercise
regimens for clients with cognitive impairment and care providers with
significant burden. Future research must ensure continued development of a
reliable and intuitive system.

Langue : ANGLAIS