Aphasia Snapshot Results: Let’s Talk About Support Groups

We’re excited to reveal the results of our third Aphasia Snapshot. We asked people to tell us about their support group. This is what they said.

Do you have an aphasia support group?

42.1% of people have a support group while 57.9% of people don’t have one.

If you don’t have an aphasia support group, do you want one?

Wow! 95.5% of people who don’t have a support group want to have one. Luckily, the NAA keeps a database of support groups in your area. You can access it at here.

What is the best part of your support group? (check all that apply)

75% of people love that they gain information and have interesting conversations. 68.8% enjoy getting support from people who are going through the same thing, learning how other people navigate aphasia, and meeting other people and forming friendships. Whereas 56.3% say their support group helps them not feel alone and share frustrations.

Is your support group through a speech clinic or organization?

68.8% attend a support group through an organization, and 31.2% through a clinic or college.

Is it peer-led or expert-led?

87.3% have their group being led by other people with aphasia. Only 6.3% had their group led by a speech-language pathologist, and another 6.3% had their group led by a caregiver.

How large is your support group?

10 – 15 people (37.5%) was the most popular size followed by larger than 15 people (31.3%), 5 – 10 people (18.8%) and 1 – 5 people (12.5%).

Does your support group meet in-person or online?

56.2% of the support groups started online while only 6.3% are meeting in-person. 37.5% started out in-person before the pandemic but moved online. If you are looking for online resources, we keep a list that is updated monthly.

How often does your group meet?

75% are meeting weekly while 25% are meeting every other week. No support groups met only monthly.

What is the most important feature of any support group? (check all that apply)

The most important quality was the ability for everyone to participate (81.3%) followed by trading information and ideas (62.5%) and learning more about aphasia (62.5%). Friendship (56.3%) and a strong leader (50%) rounded out the list.

Does your support group include caregivers or other family members?

62.6% said their support group was solely for people with aphasia while 37.4% said caregivers were welcome to attend.

We’ve made the results available as a downloadable PDF in case you want to discuss the answers offline.

We take a new community snapshot each month. Look for four new snapshots during June’s Aphasia Awareness Month!