Apportioning time for aphasia rehabilitation

Background: In the first issue of the first volume of Aphasiology in 1987, Robert Marshall contributed the first Clinical Forum Target Article entitled Reapportioning time for aphasia rehabilitation: A point of view (Marshall, 1987a), where he built an argument for spending more clinical time with aphasic people who would benefit better from treatment, than those less likely to. Aim: This paper aims to revisit Dr. Marshall's 1987 question, but from a different perspective, by asking whether the time that we, as societies apportion to aphasia and aphasic people matches with what we have learnt about the effectiveness of treatment for aphasia in the past 25 years. Method & Procedure: A short, unsystematic, review that examines recent evidence for the effectiveness of treatment for aphasic impairments. Results: While a wide range of evidence exists supporting the view that treatment for aphasic impairments can be effective, and that aphasia has a more devastating effect upon the lives of aphasic people and their families than any other disease or disability, there is still a significant gap between these findings and the amount of time provided by for treatment. Conclusions: Many people with aphasia can benefit significantly from treatment for their impairments, and even people who have been aphasic for many years can make significant gains. What appears to be particularly important is that treatment should be intensive and of sufficient duration to be effective.