Aphasia, Loneliness, and Social Support

Ross, Katherine B. and LaPointe, Leonard L. and Katz, Richard C.
Aphasia, Loneliness, and Social Support. In Clinical Aphasiology Conference: Clinical Aphasiology Conference (2004 : 34th : Park City, UT : May 2004) / : (2004).

Abstract

Loneliness and lack of social support are common complaints of stroke survivors with
aphasia. Treatment of psychosocial well-being by aphasiologists presupposes that such
complaints are significantly different than those of normally-aging adults and are
attributable to communication disorders post-stroke. Our study finds that aphasic
individuals are not lonelier than normally-aging adults, yet they receive significantly
more social support than do their non-brain- injured peers. Within our aphasic group,
increased loneliness and social support may be most related to factors other than severity
of language-based disablement. The use of a social model of disability for developing
relevant treatment is discussed.