Abstract
A training program of conversation partners for people with aphasia was started in 2000. Conversation partners are intended to be communicative ramps between the aphasic people and the society, and the program is based on intention to support people with aphasia to live with aphasia, providing them with optimal communication environment, rather than helping them recover from aphasia. The program consists of four workshops with lectures, group discussions and role-plays, and five compulsory practice sessions, in which each trainee experiences real conversation with an aphasic person. The whole program takes six months to complete. Family members of aphasic people, care workers, nurses and volunteers comprise the 88 people who finished the program over the period of three years. Eighty-four percent of volunteers who finished the program are now actively working as volunteers for people with aphasia. Following our program in Tokyo, similar programs have started in other areas of Japan and the number is growing. We hope to create an aphasia-friendly society by eliminating communication barriers which interfere with social participation of aphasic individuals in medical, welfare and many other situations in their lives.
