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APHASIA ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND (APHASIANZ) INC.
2009 APHASIA CONFERENCE "APHASIA THERAPY AND BEYOND"
This conference, the third aphasia conference in New Zealand, was held over three days from 21st to 23rd October 2009, with the main conference programme running over one full day and two half days, and a symposium for health professionals on the afternoon of day two.
People with aphasia made up 25% of those attending, with family members accounting for a further 14%. There were a significant number of Speech Language Therapy students attending, as well as qualified SLTs and other health professionals.
Henrietta, Duchess of Bedford, the Patron of AphasiaNZ, opened the conference proceedings. She spoke movingly of her personal experience of the effects of aphasia following her husband’s stroke and explained how this led to the development of the Tavistock Trust for Aphasia in the UK. She also outlined the significant contribution that the Tavistock Trust has made to aphasia services in the UK by giving grants to specific projects, and by the formation of the Aphasia Alliance.
Dr Anne Whitworth from Newcastle University in the UK and Dr Deborah Hersh from Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia gave keynote addresses at the main conference as well as presenting findings from their research to the SLTs at the symposium.
There were six presentations by people with aphasia, highlighting the challenges of living with aphasia, and providing personal insights into the strategies used to cope with aphasia. Collaboration was key with people helping and supporting each other to tell their stories and share their advice.
Health professionals spoke about issues such as coping strategies, quality of life, and different ways of providing therapy and support, as well as the findings of research into patient perceptions of speech language therapy.
A drumming workshop was the surprise event on the second morning. This gave a strong clear message to all that ‘actions speak louder than words’, and was a remarkable demonstration of the power of facial expression and gesture, as well as being tremendous fun!
There was once again significant importance placed by people with aphasia on the value of meeting others with aphasia, with feedback about the value of “knowing you are not alone”. Family members also commented on the pleasure and insight gained from “watching my family member (with aphasia) interacting with others” and “seeing the personal growth/confidence in the family member with aphasia”.
Speech Language Therapists, both qualified and students, as well as the other health professionals present spoke of the value of learning “what people think about their therapy – you don’t always get that feedback”. They also commented on the usefulness of hearing the perspectives of people with aphasia in terms of becoming more aware and informed, and the importance of really listening to people with aphasia when they set their goals in therapy.
Overall, attendees commented that the event had been:
- “a fantastic opportunity”
- “uplifting”
- “a great way to meet people with aphasia and caregivers”
- “interesting and stimulating – fantastic
- “looking forward to the next one”
We are delighted that all who provided this feedback indicated that they would like to attend another conference, and we hope that the enthusiasm engendered (“it has re-fired me to want to educate the public….”) can be nurtured and grown so that we meet again in 2011 to tell each other about further new developments within New Zealand.
Kate Milford
November 2009
THE TAVISTOCK TRUST