Effects of Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) using Telepractice on Word Retrieval in Korean-Speakers with Non-Fluent Aphasia

Objectives: Verb Network Strengthening Treatment (VNeST) is a semantic treatment that aims to improve lexical retrieval across a hierarchy of linguistic contexts, including sentences and discourse. So, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of VNeST using telepractice on Korean individuals with moderate to severe non-fluent aphasia and examine the advantages of telepractice treatment. Methods: Three Korean individuals with aphasia caused by a single lesion in the left hemisphere participated in this study. They received VNeST via ZOOM in real time at their home. VNeST protocol consisted of 6 steps: step 1, generate three agents and themes for the target verb; step 2, read each scenario aloud; step 3, choose the appropriate case marker and answer three wh-questions about agent-theme pairs; step 4, judge semantic plausibility of sentences; step 5, confront naming on animation target verb task; step 6, repeat the prompts of Step 1 without cues. Multiple-baseline design across behaviors was employed, and effect sizes of the treatment were obtained. Results: The results of this study are as follows: 1) all participants showes large effect sizes, 2) all participants showed a generalization effect, 3) the CIU rate of all participants improved, 4) all participants showed increased score or performance on language assessment task, 5) all participants and their careers responded that they were very satisfied with the telepractice treatment. Conclusion: The current study suggest that VNeST via telepractice is effective as off-line treatment in promoting generalization from single word naming in person with moderate to severe non-fluent aphasia.