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Training programme helps people to regain their 'voice'20 November 2008A pioneering programme which helps people with aphasia - a common communication disability - to have a 'voice' and to educate others to better understand their condition has received valuable funding from the Bupa Foundation by winning the medical research charity's Communication Award 2008. Around 250,000 people in the UK live with aphasia, speech loss usually caused by stroke. The national charity, Connect-The Communication Disability Network, devised 'Training Together' a training package developed in collaboration with people with aphasia to help healthcare workers improve their interactions with aphasia patients. The programme has been trialled in different locations across the UK, training over 100 people with aphasia as communications skills trainers who have, in turn, trained more than 500 healthcare workers from hospital porters to stroke consultants. Carole Pound, director of Innovation at Connect, said: "Our approach is to view the people with aphasia as experts in their condition and to focus not on their own impairment but on what they can do to improve other people's communication skills. This increases the confidence of both the person with aphasia and the staff who care for them. "It can be very frustrating for someone to go from doing the crossword in The Times every day, for example, to not being able to say or write their own name. Simple adjustments such as slowing down speech, using more facial expressions, rephrasing words or using visual aids to support spoken information can make an enormous difference to daily interactions. "We are delighted to win this award because it means we can now extend our training to a wider range of health and social care staff in a broader range of settings, for example, care homes." Catriona Grant, a former special needs teacher for children and one of the trainers in the programme, had a stroke in 2003 and says of her experience: "After I had my stroke, I couldn't speak for over two years and could only communicate in grunts and noises. I'm a gregarious person by nature so this was extremely depressing for my family and me. My children were young at the time, 12 and 14 years old, and none of us knew how to cope with the situation. It's been a slow and gradual process but I've built up my confidence and can communicate in words again. The best part was being able to tell my children again that I loved them". The first stage of the programme involves a two day training session for people with aphasia who learn how to give accurate feedback. The critical part of the training programme involves a 20 minute conversation with a healthcare worker and a 10 minute feedback session where the person with aphasia identifies techniques and props to help trainees maximise their interaction skills with those with a communication disability. Bupa's group medical director and vice chairman of the Bupa Foundation, Dr Andrew Vallance-Owen, said: "Some people with aphasia comment that their disability means that they become 'invisible' and are excluded from discussions and decisions about their own care. This training will help to prevent this situation and gives invaluable guidance to all members of the stroke team." The Connect Innovation team received its Bupa Foundation award at a ceremony at Lincoln's Inn in London on the evening of 12 November 2008. For more information about the Bupa Foundation awards, visit www.bupafoundation.com Back to the latest press releases
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