RELEASE

REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE)

Rationale: 

The James Lind Alliance partnership between stroke survivors, carers and healthcare professionals listed aphasia twice in the ‘top 10’ research priorities for life after stroke. A better understanding of what makes aphasia rehabilitation work, would allow treatments to be tailored to specific individuals resulting in more effective and efficient therapy.

Research Activities: 

We gathered pre-existing data from clinical trials and studies of aphasia treatments after stroke. We pooled these data in a large database and used them to answer new research questions about aphasia. We brought separate databases together to allow us to generate new information about aphasia after stroke and identify future research questions. This informed our understanding of what kind of patients we should be approaching to participate in our study, and when.

RELEASE informed:

1. The components of aphasia therapy that best facilitate recovery (in general and for different types of people, stroke and aphasia)
2. The optimum therapy (timing, intensity, frequency, duration, repetition) and home practice routine (in general and for different types of people, stroke and aphasia)
3. The usual patterns of recovery from aphasia (with and without therapy)
4. What aspects indicate someone will make a good (or not so good) recovery from aphasia

For more information please email RELEASE@gcu.ac.uk

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Publications

1. The RELEASE Collaborators. Precision rehabilitation for aphasia by patient age, sex, aphasia severity, and time since stroke? A prespecified, systematic review based, individual participant data, network, subgroup meta-analysis. International Journal of Stroke 2022;17(10):1067-1077. org/10.1177/17474930221097477.
2. The RELEASE Collaborators. Dosage, intensity, and frequency of language therapy for aphasia: an individual participant data network meta-analysis Stroke 53 (3) 956-967. org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.035216 .
3. The RELEASE Collaborators. Predictors of post-stroke aphasia recovery: a systematic review-informed individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Stroke 2021;52:1778–1787. doi 1161/STROKEAHA.120.031162
4. The RELEASE Collaborators. Utilising a systematic review-based approach to create a database of individual participant data for meta-and network meta-analysis: the RELEASE database of aphasia after stroke. Aphasiology (2022) 36(4); 513-533. org/10.1080/02687038.2021.1897081.
5. The RELEASE Collaborators. Communicating things simply, but not too simply – TIDieR descriptions of speech and language therapy interventions and transparent reporting of participant descriptors in aphasia research. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 2020, 22:3, 302-312, DOI: 1080/17549507.2020.1762000.
6. The RELEASE Collaborators. REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE): A protocol for a systematic review-based Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta- and network meta-analysis. Aphasiology 2020 Volume 34(2): 137-157 DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2019.1643003.
7. Brady MC, Ali M, VandenBerg K, Williams LJ, Abo M, Becker F, Bowen A, Brandenburg C, Breitenstein C, Bruehl S, Copland DA, Cranfill TB, di Pietro-Bachmann M, Enderby P, Fillingham J, Galli FL, Gandolfi M, Glize B, Godecke E, Hawkins N, Hilari K, Hinckley J, Horton S, Howard D, Jaecks P, Jefferies E, Jesus LMT, Kambanaros M, Kyoung Kang E, Khedr EM, Pak-Hin Kong A, Kukkonen T, Laganaro M, Lambon Ralph MA, Laska AC, Leemann B, Leff AP, Lima RR, Lorenz A, MacWhinney B, Marshall RS, Mattioli F, Maviş İ, Meinzer M, Nilipour R, Noé E, Paik N-J, Palmer R, Papathanasiou I, Patricio BF, Martins IP, Price C, Jakovac TP, Rochon E, Rose ML, Rosso C, Rubi-Fessen I, Ruiter MB, Snell C, Stahl B, Szaflarski JP, Thomas SA, van de Sandt-Koenderman M, van der Meulen I, Visch-Brink E, Worrall L, Wright HH. RELEASE: An individual participant data meta-analysis, incorporating systematic review and network meta-analysis of complex speech-language therapy interventions for stroke related aphasia. Health Services and Delivery Research National Institute for Health Research Journal National Institute for Health and Care Research; 2022 Sep. PMID: 36223438.

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Accessible versions of RELEASE findings

• Accessible Summary of RELEASE
• Speech & Language Therapy for Aphasia after Stroke (detailed)
• Speech & Language Therapy for Aphasia after Stroke (simplified)

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Presentations

1. Williams, Louise, Ali, Myzoon, VandenBerg, Kathryn, Godwin, Jon, Elders, Andrew, Bowen, Audrey, Howard, David, Visch-Brink, Evy, Hilari, Katerina, Thomas, Shirley, Kukkonen, Tarja, MacWhinney, Brian, Laska, Ann-Charlotte, Price, Cathy, Godecke, Erin, Hinckley, Jacqueline, Worrall, Linda, Palmer, Rebecca, Horton, Simon, Kambanaros, Maria, Patricio, Brigida, Becker, Frank, Mattioli, Flavia, Gandolfi, Marialuisa, Jesus, Luis, M.T., van der Meulen, Ineke, Breitenstein, Caterina, Meinzer, Marcus, Szaflarski, Jerzy P, Martins, Isabel, P, Brady, Marian on behalf of the RELEASE Collaborators. Establishing an international shared aphasia individual patient dataset for the REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE) project. IARC 2016.
2. Louise Rebecca Williams, Kathryn VandenBerg, Myzoon Ali, Andrew Elders, Jon Godwin, Stefanie Abel, Masahiro Abo, Frank Becker, Audrey Bowen, Caitlin Brandenburg, Caterina Breitenstein, David Copland, Tamara Cranfill, E. Susan Duncan, Joanne Fillingham, Federica Galli, Marialuisa Gandolfi, Bertrand Glize, Erin Godecke, Katerina Hilari, Jacqueline Hinckley, Simon Horton, David Howard, Petra Jaecks, Beth Jefferies, Luis Jesus, Monika Jungblut, Eun Kyoung Kang, Maria Kambanaros, Eman Khedr, Tarja Kukkonen, Matt Lambon Ralph, Marina Laganaro, Ann-Charlotte Laska, Sam-Po Law, Béatrice Leeman, Alex Leff, Roxele Ribeiro Lima, Antje Lorenz, Brian MacWhinney, Flavia Mattioli, I Mavis, Marcus Meinzer, Enrique Noé Sebastiá, Reza Nilipour, Nam-Jong Paik, Rebecca Palmer, Brigida Patricio, Isabel Pavão Martins, Marie di Pietro-Bachmann, Cathy Price, Tatjana Prizl Jakovac, Elizabeth Rochon, Miranda Rose, Charlotte Rosso, Ilona Rubi-Fessen, Marina Ruiter, Rebecca Shisler Marshall, Claerwen Snell, Jerzy P Szaflarski, Shirley Thomas, Ineke van der Meulen, Mieke van de Sandt-Koenderman, Evy Visch-Brink, Linda Worrall, Heather Wright Harris, Marian Cecilia Brady, REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE): Creating an international, multidisciplinary, individual patient database.14th Congress of the European Forum for Research in Rehabilitation 2017 (EFRR).
3. The RELEASE Collaboration. Building on the past: systematic identification, data extraction and synthesis of pre-existing individual stroke patient datasets to inform the development and design of future clinical trials. ICTMC 2017.
4. M. Brady on behalf of the RELEASE Collaborators. REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE). Progress update. UKSF 2017
5. M. Ali on behalf of the RELEASE Collaborators. Establishing an international database of 5932 individual participants’ data to inform the RELEASE project, ESOC 2018.
6. Ali M, Elders A, Godwin J, Sandri A, Williams LJ, Williams LR, VandenBerg K, Abel S, Abo M, Becker F, Bowen A, Brandenburg C, Breitenstein C, Copland D, Cranfill T, Di Pietro-Bachmann M, Enderby P, Fillingham J, Galli F, Gandolfi M, Glize B, Godecke E, Hilari K, Hinckley J, Horton S, Howard D, Jaecks P, Jefferies B, Jesus L, Kambanaros M, Khedr E, Kong EPH, Kukkonen T, Kang EK, Lambon Ralph M, Laganaro M, Laska A-C, Leemann B, Leff A, Lorenz A, MacWhinney B, Mattioli F, Maviş I, Meinzer M, Sebastián EN, Nilipour R, Paik N-J, Palmer R, Papathanasiou I, Patricio B, Martins IP, Price C, Jakovac TP, Rochon E, Rose ML, Rosso C, Lima RR, Rubi-Fessen I, Ruiter M, Marshall RS, Small S, Snell C, Stahl B, Szaflarski JP, Thomas S, Van Der Meulen I, Van De Sandt-Koenderman M, Visch-Brink E, Worrall L, Harris Wright H & Brady MC (2018) Who participates in aphasia research? An analysis of the REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE) data set, IARC 2018; Aphasiology, 32:sup1, 2-4, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2018.1487019
7. M. Ali on behalf of the RELEASE Collaborators. Who participates in aphasia research? An analysis of the Rehabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE) dataset – emerging findings. UKSF 2018
8. Miranda L Rose, Myzoon Ali, Andrew Elders, Jon Godwin, Anastasia Karachalia Sandri, Linda J Williams, Louise R Williams, Kathryn VandenBerg, Stefanie Abel, Masahiro Abo, Frank Becker, Audrey Bowen, Caitlin Brandenburg, Caterina Breitenstein, David Copland, Tamara Cranfill, Marie Di Pietro-Bachmann, Pam Enderby, Joanne Fillingham, Federica Galli, Marialuisa Gandolfi, Bertrand Glize, Erin Godecke, Katerina Hilari, Jacqueline Hinckley, Simon Horton, David Howard, Petra Jaecks, Beth Jefferies, Luis Jesus, Maria Kambanaros, Eman Khedr, Anthony PH Kong, Tarja Kukkonen, Eun Kyoung Kang, Matthew Lambon Ralph, Marina Laganaro, Ann-Charlotte Laska, Béatrice Leeman, Alexander Leff, Antje Lorenz, Brian MacWhinney, Flavia Mattioli, İlknur Maviş, Marcus Meinzer, Enrique Noé Sebastián, Reza Nilipour, Robyn O’Halloran, Nam-Jong Paik, Rebecca Palmer, Ilias Papathanasiou, Brigida Patricio, Isabel Pavão Martins, John Pierce, Cathy Price, Tatjana Prizl Jakovac, Elizabeth Rochon, Charlotte Rosso, Roxele Lima Ribeiro, Ilona Rubi-Fessen, Marina Ruiter, Rebecca Shisler Marshall, Steve Small, Claerwen Snell, Benjamin Stahl, Jerzy P Szaflarski, Shirley Thomas, Leanne Togher, Ineke Van Der Meulen, Mieke Van De Sandt-Koenderman, Evy Visch-Brink, Linda Worrall, Heather Harris Wright & Marian C Brady (2018)Tidier descriptions of speech and language therapy interventions for people with aphasia; consensus from the RELEASE Collaboration, IARC 2018; Aphasiology, 32:sup1, 183-186, DOI: 10.1080/02687038.2018.1487021
9. M. Ali on behalf of the RELEASE Collaborators. Prognosis and Predictors of Aphasia Recovery: Emerging findings from RELEASE, ESOC 2019.
10. Frank Becker, on behalf of the RELEASE Collaboration, Advancing rehabilitation research by creating a robust database of individual participant data: the RELEASE database of aphasia after stroke. Baltic and North Sea Conference on Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, 2019
11. The RELEASE Collaborators. What does recovery from aphasia look like? Results from a Systematic Review and Individual Participant Data (IPD) Meta-Analyses of the REhabilitation and recovery of peopLE with Aphasia after StrokE (RELEASE) Archive, Clinical Aphasiology Conference May 2019.
12. M. Brady for the RELEASE Collaborators. Communicating as simply as possible – but not too simply, SPA 2019
13. Marian C. Brady,  Myzoon Ali, Kathryn VandenBerg, Linda J. Williams, Louise R. Williams, Masahiro Abo, Frank Becker, Audrey Bowen, Caitlin Brandenburg, Caterina Breitenstein, Stefanie Bruehl, David A. Copland, Tamara B. Cranfill, Marie di Pietro-Bachmann, Pamela Enderby , Joanne Fillingham, Federica Lucia Galli, Marialuisa Gandolfi, Bertrand Glize, Erin Godecke, Neil Hawkins, Katerina Hilari, Jacqueline Hinckley, Simon Horton, David Howard, Petra Jaecks, Elizabeth Jefferies, Luis M. T. Jesus, Maria Kambanaros, Eun Kyoung Kang, Eman M. Khedr, Anthony Pak-Hin Kong, Tarja Kukkonen, Marina Laganaro, Matthew A. Lambon Ralph, Ann Charlotte Laska, Béatrice Leemann, Alexander P. Leff, Roxele R. Lima, Antje Lorenz, Brian MacWhinney, Rebecca Shisler Marshall, Flavia Mattioli, İlknur Maviş, Marcus Meinzer, Reza Nilipour, Enrique Noé, Nam-Jong Paik, Rebecca Palmer, Ilias Papathanasiou, Brigida F. Patricio, Isabel Pavão Martins, Cathy Price, Tatjana Prizl Jakovac, Elizabeth Rochon, Miranda L. Rose, Charlotte Rosso, Ilona Rubi-Fessen, Marina B. Ruiter, Claerwen Snell, Benjamin Stahl, Jerzy P. Szaflarski, Shirley A. Thomas, Mieke van de Sandt-Koenderman, Ineke van der Meulen, Evy Visch-Brink, Linda Worrall & Heather Harris Wright. RELEASE-ing the potential of a large, international, systematic review-based Individual Participant Data (IPD) aphasia after stroke database for meta- and network meta-analysis. Science of Aphasia 2019.
14. The RELEASE Collaborators. Predicting language recovery following stroke and speech and language therapy (SLT): a systematic review informed individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Canadian Stroke Congress, 2019

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Research Team

• Chief Investigator: Prof Marian Brady (UK)
• Co-Investigator: Dr Myzoon Ali (UK)
• Statisticians: Dr Linda Williams (UK)
• Research Fellow: Dr Louise Williams (UK)
• Data Co-ordinator: Kathryn VandenBerg (UK)

Full Research Team

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge Speakeasy’s contribution to the development of the aphasia accessible summaries of this work. Special thanks to Gill Pearl, Emma McBride for technical support, and people with aphasia at Speakeasy. www.speakeasy-aphasia.org.uk.