Inês Frade , Hospital da Luz nurse, concluded her doctorate degree in Nursing, last January 28, at Lisbon Nursing School. Her thesis – entitled “Adult experience after period of expressive aphasia” – earned the unanimous approval of the jury with distinction. The goal of the research conducted was to increase knowledge about “the experience reported by people with expressive aphasia”. Expressive aphasia is a communication disorder, mostly caused by cerebral vascular accident (CVA), compromising verbal communication, disturbing oral and written expression and object naming. It is characterized by great difficulty in speaking and writing, although the ability to understand what is said is normally preserved. Therefore, it causes major changes at personal, family, and professional level, and often severe emotional disturbances, among other alterations and impacts. Inês Frade, who works in the post-anaesthesia care unit of the Operating Theatre, explains having adopted for methodology “narrative research, according to the Clandinin and Connelly perspective, to dismantle the complexity and relevance assigned by the participants to their experiences”. The participants included three individuals having suffered from expressive aphasia and already able to express themselves at the time of the research. Among the main conclusions, the nurse highlights: “It was observed that expressive aphasia deeply impacts the individual in a holistic and unique way, the relationships, the self and the family, generating rather complex specific challenges and adversities.” “Internal resources and external supports have emerged and were mobilised along the path, as well as obstacles to the reinvention of the individual himself. Beyond losses, the anticipation and reconfiguration of life projects stood out.” “Understanding expressive aphasia according to the individual perspective is fundamental for the advancement of knowledge and nursing practice. The insights obtained are expected to contribute to an approach more focused on the individual, favouring recovery, restructuration, reconstruction, and welfare.” Vanda Marques Pinto, from Lisbon University Nursing School (ESEL), was one of the thesis advisors, together with professors Luísa D’Espney and Cristina Baixinho. Maria Luísa Torres Queiroz de Barros (Lisbon University Psychology Faculty) presided the doctorate jury. In the photo above, the new doctor and the jury: Afonso Miguel Cavaco (Lisbon University Pharmacy Faculty), Sofia Pereira Coutinho Reimão (Lisbon University Medicine Faculty), Patrícia Pontífice Sousa (Portuguese Catholic University Health Sciences and Nursing Faculty), Inês Frade, Vanda Marques Pinto, Maria Luísa Torres Queiroz de Barros, Maria Leonor Xavier (Lisbon University Letters Faculty). Also part of the jury was Andrea Marques (Coimbra University Nursing School), who participated online.
