Living with aphasia can be frustrating for both patients and their loved ones. June is National Aphasia Awareness Month.
Make it a point to educate your community about aphasia, its common causes, and how people with aphasia can benefit from your services. Here are some tips to help you get started:
- Host an educational session on aphasia and ways to improve communication. Find tons of tips and tools at the website of the National Aphasia Association.
- Educate your referral sources and patients about the role speech-language pathologists play in assisting those with common medical conditions, including aphasia.
- Visit the Aphasia Awareness Month webpage hosted by the American Stroke Association and stock up on tons of ready-made resources to reach out to your community about this language disorder. Be sure to add their infographics to your company's website.
- Post an item to your municipal government’s regular meeting agenda seeking to recognize June as Aphasia Awareness Month. Invite your speech-language pathologists to participate. Be sure to speak during the reading of the agenda item or during the meeting’s public comment period about the important work these professionals do. See page 2 at this link for a sample proclamation.
- Contact your local television morning talk show producers and ask to be featured in a segment about aphasia awareness. Ask one of your agency’s speech-language pathologists to join you. Prepare yourself for the appearance by learning aphasia statistics, common conditions that cause aphasia, and tips to cope.
- Create a word search puzzle using aphasia terms and personalize it to your agency. Leave stacks of them in the rehabilitation facilities in your area.
- Locate a patient who is a stroke survivor who has made strides in overcoming their aphasia with the help of your speech-language pathologist. Secure the appropriate releases to speak with the media and then contact your local newspaper for a feature story about this patient, her progress, and how your agency has helped.