The Pathway

The Australian Aphasia Rehabilitation Pathway (AARP) is a set of care standards for aphasia management. It has been designed for speech pathologists to help guide person-centered, evidence-based aphasia services. It aims to optimise the overall rehabilitation journey for people with aphasia and their families/friends.

Theories and principles underpinning the pathway include those of; integrated care pathways, evidence-based practice and knowledge transfer and exchange. The AARP provides research evidence, clinical expertise and perspectives of people with aphasia and their families/friends across the continuum of aphasia rehabilitation. 

The pathway is divided into eight key areas, core to the aphasia rehabilitation journey. Best practice statements are provided under each heading along with supporting information and resources to facilitate implementation of the best practice statements. 

The AARP has been developed through national collaboration with researchers, clinicians and people with aphasia, led by the NHMRC Clinical Centre of Research Excellence (CCRE) in Aphasia Rehabilitation which was an Australia-wide research program funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) from 2009-2015. The program comprised of leading speech pathology researchers, clinicians and managers throughout Australia and developed the Australian Aphasia Rehabilitation Pathway, a set of guidelines for person-centred aphasia services.
NHMRC funding for the Centre of Research Excellence in Aphasia Research and Rehabilitation (Aphasia CRE - 2019-2024) has ensured the continuation of the work of the CCRE Aphasia and now maintains the AARP website. Learn more about the Aphasia CRE 

Speech pathologists are invited to share their opinions of the AARP and this website. Please contact us with any comments. 

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Every 6 seconds

Every 6 seconds a stroke will result in the reduced quality of life of an individual due to ongoing disability (Mackay & Mensah, 2004). That's 15 million strokes annually worldwide.

Aphasia is a common sequelae of stroke, occurring in up to 38% of stroke survivors (Pederson et al., 1995) and has significant implications for an individual’s functioning and quality of life (Worrall and Holland, 2003).  Aphasia is a communication disability caused by damage to the language centres of the brain. Associated with increased mortality, reduced likelihood of returning to employment and reduced rates of functional recovery (Engelter et al., 2006)^, aphasia post stroke affects an individual's ability to understand, speak, read and write. 

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