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SUPPORTING PEOPLE WITH aphasia living
in the community and their families is one of the
key research aims of the Aphasia Lab at La Trobe
University, Melbourne, led by Associate Professor
Miranda Rose. As part of addressing this aim,
SLP and PhD candidate Michelle Attard and
her research team (supervisors A/Prof. Miranda
Rose and Professor Leanne Togher) ran a 12-
week community aphasia group program at the
University of Sydney in 2016.
The aim of the program, named the
Interdisciplinary Community Aphasia Group (InterD-
CAG), was to promote living well with aphasia for
people with aphasia and their family members in
the context of SLP and social work facilitation—a
staff combination that has had limited discussion
in the CAG literature. The team also recruited two
aides for the group: a peer (person with aphasia)
and a member of the general community.
A major product of the research project is a
free-to-download resource, the InterD-CAG
Facilitator Program Manual. It provides some
background on community aphasia groups as
well as considerations in preparing to run a group
like the InterD-CAG. These contextual sections of
the manual offer support for those who have not
run groups before and experienced facilitators
alike. Importantly, they explain the principles
that underpin the program content—serving as
rationales based strongly in research evidence
across a range of fields.
The main part of the manual covers program
content for 12 x 2-hour sessions (plus a break),
with sections for facilitation by an SLP as well as
a social worker. Some sessions are designed for
all staff and group members together, and some
are split (SLP, aides, people with aphasia; social
worker, family members).
The resource comes in the form of a .pdf manual
and a .zip folder containing program resources
(relating to organising the group and session-
based content).
The program content areas address:
• communication skills (including modeling of
total communication),
• conversation,
• participation in meaningful activities (e.g.,
yoga, art, music therapy),
• information about stroke and aphasia,
• psychological support (a focus on identity
through life storying), and
• social support.
The manual is designed to be adapted to the
community-based clinician’s context and the
needs/preferences of those involved. Clinicians
also have the potential to extract relevant elements
to apply in other settings across the continuum of
care.
It is freely available to download from Aphasia
Community, a website designed to support formal
facilitators of aphasia groups:
The results of the trial —both quantitative (pre,
post, follow-up) and qualitative (semi-structured
interviews with participants and staff)—will
be published later this year. Michelle and her
colleagues will be presenting on community
aphasia groups at conferences and workshops
throughout the year.
The authors welcome clinicians’ feedback.
Contact: Michelle Attard,
Aphasia Community
La Trobe Aphasia Lab
Free aphasia group resource
the InterD-CAG Facilitator Program Manual