Delivering for aphasia

Abstract

Providing a quality service for people with aphasia is a primary goal of speech-language pathologists working with neurogenic communication disorders. This paper reviews what is known about the incidence and prevalence of aphasia and what services are provided for people with aphasia. On the basis of the stroke data, the incidence of aphasia in the developed world ranges between 0.02-0.06% with prevalence ranging between 0.1-0.4%. Average hours of treatment for aphasic people in the developed world ranges between 1-5 hours per week, with a great deal of variability, although recent research suggests that intense treatment of ∼9 hours per week over a relatively short period is needed in order to be effective. It is concluded that there is a significant gap between what the research suggests is the appropriate amount of treatment and actual provision throughout the English-speaking world.