The Aphasiology Symposium of Australasia Program for Nov 27 & 28 is on the website now and we are excited to hear from speakers across Australia and New Zealand as they update us on the latest in research, clinical developments, resources and supports for people with aphasia.
Transport and accommodation information is also available on the website www.aphaisasymposium.com.au
This is the perfect professional development event to attend this year!
Highlighting a few more of our presenters at the event (and we looking forward to catching up with them at the social event on Thursday evening):
We are looking forward to hearing from Dr Genevieve Vuong presenting “Supporting the active engagement of people with aphasia and their support people, in Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment delivered via telerehabilitation.”
There is emerging research on the feasibility of delivering individual, and group-based aphasia services via telerehabilitation. However, few studies describe how people with aphasia and their support people (SPs) are supported to successfully engage in complex intensive and comprehensive therapy. This study aimed to describe how the telerehabilitation system and delivery processes were optimised to support active engagement of people with aphasia and their SPs in therapy. The usability of delivering a Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment via Telerehabilitation (TeleCHAT) was evaluated.
Chelsea Larkman will be presenting “A co-designed tool to support collaboration in cross-linguistic & cross-cultural aphasia therapy: Development and evaluation of the La Trobe University Aphasia therapy Collaboration Tool for Speech Pathologists and Interpreters.”
Aphasia caseloads internationally are becoming increasingly diverse, resulting in speech pathologists needing to provide therapy to clients with whom they do not share a language (Centeno & Harris, 2021). This necessitates close collaboration with interpreters. Speech pathologists and interpreters have identified multiple challenges to adapting and providing aphasia therapy in different languages and cultures (Larkman et al., 2024; Larkman et al., 2023). This study aimed to explore, develop, and evaluate potential solutions to the challenges of cross-linguistic and cross-cultural aphasia therapy.
Clare Kendrick will be presenting “Acute Inpatient Multidisciplinary Stroke Squad- Increasing Synaptic and Social Connection” at ASA 2025 in Melbourne 27 Nov
Stroke survivors, particularly those with aphasia (1) are at increased risk of social isolation and depression during early recovery, underscoring the need for interventions that address both physical and emotional rehabilitation. Despite Australian national stroke guidelines recommending early mood monitoring and multidisciplinary therapy (2), staffing and resource limitations often hinder implementation in acute settings (3,4). This pilot project aimed to establish a sustainable, multidisciplinary group therapy model: ”AIMSS (Acute Multidisciplinary Stroke Squad) ”within Wollongong Hospital’s acute stroke unit to enhance therapy dosage, mood screening and patient engagement without additional staffing or cost.
Don’t forget to register for the ASA Social event, the perfect casual opportunity to network with attendees and presenters whist enjoying cocktails, canape’s and a loaded grazing table at our favourite venue – Little Henri.