Great interest as Uppsala hosted the Nordic Aphasia Conference

NAC was first held in 2006, initiated by colleagues in Norway. Since then, the Nordic countries have taken turns hosting the biennial event, which is aimed at both researchers and clinicians with an interest in aphasia rehabilitation. This year, Sweden was the host nation, and the conference was held at Uppsala University.

The event has grown from initially attracting mainly Nordic colleagues to becoming a global meeting place for leading researchers in the field. This year’s conference welcomed 215 participants from 22 countries. Several prominent research groups in the field are based in Australia, which, after Sweden, had the largest number of participants and contributed a significant number of high-quality presentations.

The theme of NAC25 was a forward-looking exploration of new opportunities in aphasia rehabilitation in a rapidly changing world. Topics included the evaluation and implementation of new complex intervention programmes for people with aphasia and how to involve family members in the rehabilitation process.

Other key issues included how individuals with aphasia can participate in the development of interventions and how AI, or other technologies, can be used for various types of training. One of the conference highlights was a lecture by Professor Swathi Kiran from Boston University, focusing on “precision rehabilitation” – that is, how brain imaging, AI and other methods can be used to predict intervention outcomes and tailor individualised treatments.

The conference concluded with a presentation of the European guidelines for aphasia rehabilitation, recently published by the EOS (European Stroke Organisation). The guidelines, based on a comprehensive literature review by an international working group, recommend that individuals with aphasia receive intensive rehabilitation comprising at least 20 hours, delivered at least four days per week and totalling at least three hours per week. This is not yet standard practice in many parts of Sweden, but the guidelines provide a clear target to strive for.

This year’s conference was of high scientific quality. Many participants also remarked that the setting – the Grand Auditorium and the experience of being in Uppsala in June – contributed to a particularly memorable atmosphere.

Ellika Schalling, Professor of Speech-Language-Pathology at the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences