Mobile Technology Helps Find the Right Words

Mobile Technology Helps Find the Right Words
Photo by Kampus Production from Pexels

What is the name of the study?

Mobile technology to support lexical retrieval during activity retell in primary progressive aphasia.

"A mobile app (application) helps people who have difficulty speaking to find the right words."

What was the goal of the study?

Some people with dementia lose the ability to speak. Others have difficulty finding the right words. We wanted to use a mobile app called CoChat to see if it could help these people find the right words to speak We had six adults who have dementia and have difficulty finding the right words use the CoChat on an Apple iPad. We measured how many words they were able to speak without the CoChat App. The CoChat app allows the user to take a picture. The CoChat App will display words related to the image. 

Figure 1. CoChat app user interface.
Figure 1. The CoChat App: If a user wants to tell his friend about the forest he visited next to the river. He can take a picture. The image uploads and the CoChat App creates and displays a list of the 10 best words. Later the user can bring up the CoChat App and picture to have a conversation with his friend.

What did we find?

Five out of six people with dementia and word finding difficulties were able to speak more words when they used the CoChat app. These people and their partners reported that CoChat made talking to each other easier.

What did we learn?

Tools like CoChat may be able to help people with mild to moderate dementia who have difficulty speaking or finding words, but it may not help everyone.

Why is this important?

Some people with dementia lose their ability to speak while they keep their ability to think. These people can read single words and use them with their friends and family as the disease gets worse. The ability to speak with friends and family may help them live a better life with dementia.

Who are the authors of the study?

Aimee Mooney1, Steven Bedrika1, Glory Noethe1, Scott Spaulding2, and Melanie Fried-Oken1

Authors are from: 1. Institute on Development and Disability, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR; 2. College of Education, University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Citation: Mooney, A., Bedrick, S., Noethe, G., Spaulding, S., & Fried-Oken, M. (2018). Mobile technology to support lexical retrieval during activity retell in primary progressive aphasia. Aphasiology, 32(6), 666-692. https://doi.org/10.1080/02687038.2018.1447640

Key Words:

Dementia: A brain disease that slowly decreases a person's ability to think, speak, or take care of themselves.

App (Application): A program on a phone, tablet or computer that allows the user to do something specific, such as play music.