‘Life changing’ language program

A new University of Queensland (UQ) program aimed at changing the lives of people who experience language difficulties after stroke will be trialled in South East Queensland major hospitals.

In what has been described as an ‘Australian first’, the program, Aphasia Language Impairment and Functioning Therapy (LIFT), has received a $751,000 National Health and Medical Research Partnership Projects grant designed to improve the translation of research into health policy and practice.

Aphasia is a language disorder that can affect a person’s ability to talk, read, write and understand the spoken word, and can occur after stroke, traumatic brain injury, or brain cancer.

UQ deputy vice-chancellor (Research), Professor Max Lu, welcomed the funding to the aphasia program and congratulated the research team from UQ, Monash, The Wesley Hospital and the Gold Coast Hospital.

“The program will potentially place Queensland at the forefront of aphasia treatment in Australia.

“It is a great example of the strength that collaborative partnerships between universities, hospitals, private organisations and government bodies can bring to improving the health of the community,” Professor Lu said.

Lead investigator, Professor Linda Worrall, from UQ’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said the funding would be used to trial the aphasia program in hospitals and compare the results with patients who receive current standard treatment.

The Aphasia LIFT program consists of a threeweek intensive program including daily individual therapy, computer training and group sessions.

“A review of aphasia therapy studies has shown that higherintensity rehabilitation may improve recovery from brain injury,” Professor Worrall said.

“It’s hard work, but participants enjoy the intensity and have achieved significant improvement in their ability to retrieve words, which is a major challenge with aphasia.

“Many have been able to achieve specific communication goals such as reading a book to their child at bedtime.”

Partner organisations involved in trialling the Aphasia LIFT program include the Wesley Research Institute, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Wesley Hospital, Mater Hospital, Logan and Beaudesert Hospitals, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Hospital, CheckUP and Prince Charles Hospital.