Approximately 40 percent of stroke survivors experience aphasia, a language impairment that can affect their speech production and comprehension as well as writing and reading. In half of these cases, the language impairment persists more than one year after the stroke, while the availability of rehabilitation services typically starts to reduce. Aphasia often has wide-ranging effects on the functioning and quality of life of the survivors as challenges in expressing emotions and communicating with others can lead to social isolation and depression.
Moreover, aphasia does not affect merely the person with aphasia but also their family members, who face a heightened risk of depression and anxiety. Given also the increasing societal burden of stroke due to the age structure of the population, new, widely applicable rehabilitation tools are really needed to support recovery and functioning in aphasia.
