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JCPSLP Volume 15, Number 3 2013 121
This experience prompted RTRC to develop a proposal to
provide this training to all LTU SLP students.
Outline
A full-day workshop was developed based on the SCA™
training (The Aphasia Institute, 2013). The Aphasia Institute
training consists of a 3-hour workshop focused on teaching
the SCA™ framework, with opportunities for experiential
practice using communication strategies via increasingly
complex role plays. Simple role plays were created that
required students to take the role of a person with aphasia
who needed to communicate a message that could be
easily gestured such as “I am having trouble
communicating, can I draw it for you?” Then students
attempted more complex role plays where they were
required to convey emotions and discuss plans for the
future, such as “I am worried I will have another stroke” and
“After rehabilitation is finished I would like to move to WA to
be close to my family”. The original Aphasia Institute
workshop was developed further into a full one-day training
program to provide greater opportunities for student
learning. A timetable for a typical one-day workshop is set
out in Table 1.
Although the SCA™ framework is taught in the context
of aphasia, the principles of SCA™ are applicable to
supporting conversation with people with a range of
different communication disabilities; therefore, this
program was used without specific modifications to teach
students communication strategies and skills that could be
applied to people with a range of different communication
disabilities.
The workshop was also expanded to include an
experiential session and a reflection session to support
students with different learning styles. For example, the
one-day workshop provided the opportunity for students
to hear about communication strategies, practise these
strategies with scaffolding and feedback in role plays with
one another, and then experience using communication
• reflect on the impact communication impairment can
have on health care delivery and life participation for
people with communication disabilities and their families;
• understand and describe appropriate communication
strategies to support people with communication
disabilities in conversation;
• apply effective use of communication skills to
conversations with people with communication
disabilities; and
• report increased confidence communicating with people
with communication difficulties.
Details about establishing the program, its resources, and
evaluating the program are provided below to assist others
who may be interested in developing a similar program.
The program
Establishment
The first step in establishing this program was to identify a
conversation partner training program to run with the
students. The Supported Conversation for Adults with
Aphasia (SCA™; The Aphasia Institute, 2013) was selected
because there was research evidence that this program
was effective in improving the communication skills of
conversation partners of people with aphasia (Kagan,
Black, Duchan, Simmons-Mackie, & Square, 2001) and it
included resources and a train the trainer program. The
SCA™ framework teaches communication partners skills to
acknowledge the inherent competence of people with
aphasia respectfully and to reveal their competence through
use of strategies and resources to get the message in, out
and verified (Kagan, 1998).
An RTRC SLP received a Quota scholarship (QUOTA,
2013) to attend the Aphasia Institute in Toronto and
complete the full institute training program including the
‘Train the trainer’ module in October 2008. The SLP then
delivered this training to SLP students on placement at
RTRC and to rehabilitation staff with very positive feedback.
Robyn
O’Halloran (top)
and Rachel
Davenport
Table 1. Outline of full day workshop
Workshop outline Description Duration
Introduction Students were provided with an introduction to the life participation approach for people with communication 30 mins
disabilities using video clips and group discussion (Chapey et al., 2008; Kagan et al., 2008)
SCA™ workshop – As developed by the Aphasia Institute and delivered by Aphasia Institute trained SLP. 90 mins
Part 1
Break 15 mins
SCA™ workshop – 90 mins
Part 2
Break for lunch
Tour of rehabilitation Students were given a tour of the rehabilitation facility and services by RTRC SLP. 30 mins
facility
Experiential session Students participated in an experiential session practicing communication strategies with educators who 60 mins
have acquired communication disabilities. Groups of four students talked to one person with a
communication disability for about 15–20 minutes. The student group then moved to another table to meet
another person with a communication disability. Students had a total of three conversations in the course of
an hour. Some educators brought along communication supports, therapy or education material to share
with the students. Others chose to converse in a more open-ended manner so the conversation topics were
very different from group to group.
Reflection Students had an opportunity to reflect as a group on the experience of conversing with people with 30–45
communication disabilities and discuss application of SCA™ to conditions other than aphasia using a case mins
study. Facilitated by Aphasia Institute trained SLP.
Debrief session for Educators were offered the opportunity to feedback, reflect and debrief about their experience working
educators with students. Facilitated by RTRC SLP.