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Research Article
June 2001

Training Volunteers as Conversation Partners Using "Supported Conversation for Adults With Aphasia" (SCA): A Controlled Trial

Publication: Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 44, Number 3
Pages 624-638

Abstract

This article reports the development and evaluation of a new intervention termed "Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia" (SCA). The approach is based on the idea that the inherent competence of people with aphasia can be revealed through the skill of a conversation partner. The intervention approach was developed at a community-based aphasia center where volunteers interact with individuals with chronic aphasia and their families. The experimental study was designed to test whether training improves the conversational skills of volunteers, and, if so, whether the improvements affect the communication of their conversation partners with aphasia. Twenty volunteers received SCA training, and 20 control volunteers were merely exposed to people with aphasia. Comparisons between the groups’ scores on a Measure of Supported Conversation for Adults with Aphasia provide support for the efficacy of SCA. Trained volunteers scored significantly higher than untrained volunteers on ratings of acknowledging competence [F (1, 36)=19.1, p < .001] and revealing competence [F(1, 36)=159.0, p < .001] of their partners with aphasia. The training also produced a positive change in ratings of social [F(1, 36)=5.7, p < .023] and message exchange skills [F(1, 36)=17.6, p < .001] of individuals with aphasia, even though these individuals did not participate in the training. Implications for the treatment of aphasia and an argument for a social model of intervention are discussed.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
Volume 44Number 3June 2001
Pages: 624-638

History

  • Received: Aug 24, 2000
  • Accepted: Jan 19, 2001
  • Published in issue: Jun 1, 2001

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Keywords

  1. aphasia
  2. conversation
  3. competence
  4. efficacy
  5. intervention

Authors

Affiliations

Aura Kagan, PhD [email protected]
Aphasia Institute Toronto, Canada and Graduate Department of Speech-Language Pathology University of Toronto, 53 The Links Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M2P 1T7
Sandra E. Black
Department of Medicine and Program in Aging Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre Toronto, Canada
Judith Felson Duchan
Department of Communicative Disorders and Sciences SUNY at Buffalo Buffalo, NY
Nina Simmons-Mackie
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Southeastern Louisiana University Hammond
Paula Square
Graduate Department of Speech-Language Pathology University of Toronto Toronto, Canada

Notes

Corresponding author: e-mail: [email protected]

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