International priorities for a unified aphasia awareness campaign: a nominal group technique study across five countries

Purpose: Despite many campaigns over the last two decades, aphasia awareness remains low internationally. To address this issue, we aimed to gain multi-stakeholder consensus on the essential elements of an international aphasia awareness campaign. Materials and methods: Online focus groups using the nominal group technique were conducted in Australia, Colombia, Denmark, Singapore, and the United States of America. Participants were: (1) people living with aphasia (PLWA), and (2) people working with PLWA (workers). Participants generated and ranked essential campaign elements. Priorities were analysed across groups using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis. Results: Twelve focus groups were held across the five countries and 26 PLWA and 29 workers participated. Collectively, participants prioritised 115 ideas for an international aphasia awareness campaign. “Reintegration of people with aphasia into society” was an essential goal, aligning with the desired outcome that, “one day the world’s population will understand aphasia and all people with aphasia will be treated with respect and kindness.” There was agreement that campaign messages should include: what aphasia is and how to support communication. Conclusions: Consensus was gained on essential elements for an international aphasia awareness campaign. These will guide the co-design of a future campaign to raise awareness of aphasia globally.