By "care partners" we mean spouses and partners, parents, children, other family members, friends, professional care providers or aides — and anyone else who is present in support of a UMAP participant.
Care partners play an important role in the recovery process. While clients are hard at work in therapy, caregivers are also learning how to adjust to a new way of life. We help care partners, family, and friends sort through the information and emotions related to aphasia.
This page is to provide an overview of what care partners have access to during a U-M Aphasia Program session. Care partners are encouraged to attend designated therapy sessions to learn how to best communicate with the client. Your clinical team can talk to you about which sessions might be best.
"One of the most important aspects of caregiving is educating yourself on what aphasia is and how we can best communicate with our loved ones." UMAP Client Care Partner
UMAP Care Partner Education and Support
We offer a series of group meetings for care partners of UMAP participants during each session.
The purpose of these meetings is to provide information, share resources and strategies, and to ask questions, share concerns, and discuss challenges as well as triumphs, with both UMAP clinicians and other care partners.
Topics of discussion include but are not limited to:
- Communication
- Verbal versus non-verbal
- Multimodal communication tools and strategies
- Supported conversation techniques to facilitate overall communication success and reduce frustration
- Aphasia
- What can cause aphasia?
- Which aspects of language can be impacted by aphasia?
- How is aphasia type determined?
- What kinds of evidence-based therapy approaches are used at UMAP to treat aphasia?
- How is aphasia different from motor speech disorders like apraxia and dysarthria?
- Co-occurring difficulties that can impact treatment and recovery, including:
- Physical limitations
- Hearing impairment
- Visual deficit
- Difficulties with cognition (memory, attention, problem-solving, etc.)
- Fatigue and chronic pain
- Mood and emotions
- Speech-language therapy
- General process
- Restorative versus compensatory treatment goals
- How do we track progress?
- How do we promote generalization and carry-over of skills to daily life?
- Benefits of intensive therapy
- Teletherapy options
- Common caregiver concerns
- Insurance coverage
- Related rehab services (OT, PT, etc.)
- Medications
- Returning to driving
- Returning to work
- Emergency situations (medical alert buttons, aphasia cards, etc.)
- Traveling with aphasia
- The impact aphasia can have on daily life
- Aphasia resources
- Suggestions for apps, websites, online support networks, workbooks, journal articles, magazines, books, films
- Recommendations for continued therapy services or home programs
- Care partner experiences
- Stress, fatigue, grief, burn-out
- Self-care, respite, stress management and coping strategies
- Aphasia advocacy
"I just didn't realize how much I would get out of the program as a caretaker.
It's not only your loved one who will benefit by growing their ability to speak, but you will also benefit greatly from the support system at UMAP.
It's a win-win!"