Aphasia research centre opens, providing treatments and social connections to patients and their families – ABC News

In the early 1950s, Bill Bowness's father suffered a stroke thatchanged his life completely and losthis ability to talk and much of his movement.

At the time, Mr Bowness did not know it but his father had a condition known as aphasia, which commonly affects communication skills in individuals after a stroke or a head injury.

It was this hindsight of his own father's experience that motivated Mr Bownessas the founder of his family's philanthropic foundationto financially back a new centre to treat the condition.

The University of Queensland officially opened the Queensland Aphasia Research Centre (QARC) today, which is the first aphasia centre in Australia that is partnered with a health service Metro North Health in the state's south-east.

The QARC said aphasia affects140,000 people in Australia.

"Back in those days, there was simply nothing available," Mr Bowness said.

"He lived a very full life before [the stroke]happened.

"He was the maintenance supervisor with what was thethen-South Brisbane Gas and Light Company.

"He was highly thought of, and then bingo gone, zip, nothing stuck in a chair all day."

Mr Bowness, who has lived with a stutter in his speech his whole life, said it was not until later in his own life and reflection on his own speech issues that he realised how difficult his father's last years were.

"His brain was still very active, but to convey that was a different matter there was nothing available then," Mr Bowness said.

"He was trapped within the bodyand the body was trapped within the house."

He remembered at the time his family made a board with the 26 letters of the alphabet on it, which his father would tap slowly to get words across.

"When I look back, the extent of that suffering just becomes greater and greater," Mr Bowness said.

"There was no-one he could talk to, there were no consultants, there was no research on the matter."

His father died in 1968 after living with aphasia and paralysis for around 15 years.

"What is proposed, or what has been started, is a major change that gives me hope, that no-one else will have to go through it quite the same," Mr Bowness said.

Last month, Hollywood movie star Bruce Willis announced his own retirement from acting after being diagnosed with the condition.

QARC director David Copland said the scientific and medical communities were now learning a lot about aphasia, but there was still a long way to go into understanding what treatment an individual neededto make a "really good recovery".

"This includes understanding how the stroke has affected their language networks, and how the brain recovers, and whether we can predict based on how the brain is workingwhat type of treatment someone needs, or how much they need," Professor Copland said.

He said many people who havethe condition foundthemselves socially isolated and facing hurdles to adjust their family lives and professional lives.

"People with aphasia are four times more likely to have depression than the general population, and so it can be quite an adjustment, because if you think of how we communicate, that's often our identity," Professor Copland said.

"It's how we see ourselves and how we interact and maintain friendships and relationships.

"It can take quite a lot of adjustment that can take years in terms of returning to some of those functions and getting quality of life."

Professor Coplandsaid the new centre in Queensland hadbeen 10 years in the making.

The centre has been funded by a $1 million gift from the Bowness Family Foundation and $500,000 from an anonymous donor.

Professor Copland said the QARC wouldrun an eight-week therapy program called the Comprehensive High-dose Aphasia Treatment (CHAT), which hadbeen tailored for individuals and couldbe delivered in a person's home via "tele-rehabilitation".

He said participants in the CHAT program hadshown major improvements in communication, confidence and quality of life.

"The experiences and opinions of people living with aphasia are central to the vision of the centre to ensure the programs we develop are meaningful and relevant," he said.

He said when the centre was up and running people from all over Australia wouldbe able to access treatment online, as well as seek support and have social connections.

"What we've been finding through our research is that the type and amount of therapy that people are needing to make long-lasting gains, they haven't been able to access, so what we're keen to do is develop new ways that people can get the amount and type of treatment that they need," Professor Copland said.

Bridget Noble said her husband John, who has aphasia,lost his ability to use numbers, had "no alphabet"and "answered every questions with yes".

After the CHAT program, Ms Noble said the improvement in her husband's speech was massive.

"It just got easierand easier and easier, and it's mainly because of what happened with that whole program," MsNoble said.

Kim Barron said when she was diagnosed with aphasia she could not"speak completely".

"You know what the right thing is to say, but it doesn't come out that way in your speech," she said.

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She said the centre allowed her to test new technology in the field.

"This is really the only place that I have found that someone proactively listens to me," Ms Barron said.

"This intern really helps me to feel connected and feel valuable and feel like I am contributing to society."

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Aphasia research centre opens, providing treatments and social connections to patients and their families - ABC News