Table 2.

Recommendations for Assessment and Treatment

Theme	Explanation	Recommendations
Reinforcing cycle of aphasia and depression	Bi-directional loop between aphasia and depression	Integrate mental health assessments into language assessment sessions to understand the relationship between the two. Refer to mental health professional for serious mental health concerns.
Depression affects the whole Person	Depression can manifest physically (e.g., headaches) and emotionally (e.g., anger)	Clinicians should be aware of holistic symptoms that may not be captured by standard depression screening instruments. Attention should be given to both somatic complaints and emotional cues.
Fluctuating nature of Symptoms	Symptoms can vary over time	Tools that monitor mood should capture symptom variability in the real-world.
Social participation as double-edged Sword	Social participation can hinder or help, depending on the context	Educate family members and clinicians to pay attention to different social environments and promote positive participation (e.g., familiar vs. unfamiliar social contexts).
Differences in communicating about depression	People with aphasia and their care partners vary in how they communicate about depression	Facilitate conversations on mental health between care partners and people with aphasia using supported communication techniques.