ABSTRACT

Background: Social isolation and loneliness are often present after aphasia and lead to negative health, social, and physical outcomes. Maintaining social connections after aphasia has been identified as an important target for intervention, but is not regularly addressed in aphasia intervention. While many persons with aphasia maintain relationships with immediate family members after brain injury, there are considerable changes to the substance and quantity of friendship networks early on in the recovery period.

Aims: The aims of this article are to examine the literature on the topic of friendship within and across disciplines and to propose a research agenda for supporting the maintenance of friendships in persons living with aphasia.

Main Contribution: The benefits of friendship to quality of life and wellbeing are well documented. Persons living with aphasia are at high risk for social isolation and reduction of friendship network due to multiple factors including reduced language capacity and social participation, costs and benefits associated with sustaining friendships, and changing social roles and identities. This article identifies 1) prospective research variables that may influence the creation, maintenance, and dissolution of friendship networks, 2) requirements of friendship research based upon these variables, 3) descriptions of interventions designed to improve existing and new friendships, and 4) potential outcome measures for capturing friendship changes and general well-being. We also highlight the link between reducing social isolation and loneliness by targeting friendship at an early stage in the recovery process and recommend a detailed plan for preventing the loss of friendship networks for people with aphasia.

Conclusions: Strategic research and development of interventions targeting the maintenance of existing friendships is necessary to support the reduction of social isolation in persons with aphasia. The authors propose a research agenda which includes co-design of research projects and interventions for friendship maintenance as one means of addressing the issue of social isolation in persons with aphasia.

摘要

背景：失语症后通常会出现社交孤立和孤独感，并导致负面的健康、社交和身体结果。失语症后维持社会联系已被确定为干预的重要目标，但在失语症干预中并未定期解决。虽然许多失语症患者在脑损伤后仍与直系亲属保持关系，但在恢复期早期，友谊网络的内容和数量发生了相当大的变化。

目的：本文的目的是检查有关学科内和跨学科友谊主题的文献，并提出一个研究议程，以支持失语症患者维持友谊。

主要贡献: 友谊对生活质量和幸福的好处是有据可查的。由于多种因素，包括语言能力和社会参与度下降、与维持友谊相关的成本和收益，以及社会角色和身份的变化，失语症患者面临社会孤立和友谊网络减少的高风险。本文确定了 1）可能影响友谊网络的创建、维持和解散的前瞻性研究变量，2）基于这些变量的友谊研究的要求，3）旨在改善现有和新友谊的干预措施的描述，以及 4）潜力用于捕捉友谊变化和总体幸福感的结果测量。

结论：有必要对以维持现有友谊为目标的干预措施进行战略研究和开发，以支持减少失语症患者的社会孤立。作者提出了一项研究议程，其中包括共同设计研究项目和维护友谊的干预措施，作为解决失语症患者社会孤立问题的一种手段。