Group training in communication skills for carers of adults with aphasia

This study describes a communication skills group programme for four carers of adults with aphasia that ran once a week for 6 consecutive weeks. The c ontent of the group was based on an approach previously not described in th e literature in any detail. Conversation analysis (CA) was used to guide in dividualized advice that was incorporated into the group by the use of writ ten advice sheets. Intervention was motivated by the results of a newly dev eloped assessment tool-the Conversation Analysis Profile for People with Ap hasia (CAPPA)-and a quantitative and qualitative analysis of collaborative repair. The CAPPA utilizes the methodology of conversation analysis (CA) as a means of both characterizing and comparing the relationship between the carers' perception of the aphasia and what is occurring in natural conversa tion. During the group, accurate perceptions and strategies that minimized the disruption to the conversation were reinforced, while inaccurate percep tions and strategies that appeared to impede interaction were discouraged. The use of the CAPPA results and a quantitative/qualitative analysis of rep air management to measure change pre- and pest-soup was explored. The post- intervention analyses examined three questions in particular: (1) did the c arers demonstrate more accurate perceptions of their relatives' aphasia?; ( 2) did the carers report a decrease in the problem severity of the aphasia? ; and (3) was there a change in the time taken to repair a trouble source a nd was this attributable to a change in the management of repair by the car er? The study was essentially an investigation of whether this type of appr oach was beneficial to the carers involved. The results suggested that focu sing on individualized advice and targeting conversation management in the group setting was a useful way of providing advice to carers. Furthermore, the CAPPA and a quantitative/qualitative analysis of repair management seem to have the potential for motivating the individualized advice and measuri ng the effectiveness of an intervention.