Exploring the development of aphasia-friendly menus

Abstract

After reviewing the literature concerning aphasia and its effects, and ways to reduce communication barriers for people with aphasia, it has been noticed that there seems to be a gap in the application of aphasia-friendly materials in daily activities, thus the researcher aimed to fill this gap through the creation of aphasia-friendly menus. The main aim of this study was to explore the preferences of a sample of persons with and without aphasia, with regard to aphasia- friendly menus. Four menus were employed in this study. Menu 1 is a menu found in a local restaurant. The modified menus, which were based on Menu 1, were all created by the researcher. Menu 2 consisted of aphasia-friendly text modifications, Menu 3 consisted of the same aphasia-friendly text modifications as those in Menu 2, including black and white photographic illustrations. Menu 4 consisted of the same aphasia-friendly text modifications found in Menu 2 and photographic illustrations in colour. A case history form was adapted to the researcher’s needs to retrieve the demographic information of the participants. The researcher determined the severity of the aphasia through the administration of the Maltese Aphasia Screening Test for Maltese participants while the Western Aphasia Battery- Revised was used for English-speaking participants. Participants rated the four menus through a four point Likert Scale created by the researcher. Self-constructed interview questions were used to obtain further information about the participants’ opinions regarding the menus. The researcher made sure that the composed material was aphasia-friendly. Results were analysed through quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results showed that Menu 4 was rated as the easiest to understand by the majority of people with aphasia and those without aphasia. The interviews demonstrated the participants’ need for an aphasia-friendly menu and led to the documentation of the participants with aphasia’s main concerns with regards to visiting restaurants.