Groups & Mutual Aid

At YDAC, we believe in the benefits of meeting in groups and. the power of mutual aid. All our programs are group-based because we see that the members of the group focus their energies on helping each other. Our services include communication groups for clients as well as support groups for caregivers (at some sites).

Groups Enrich Client Communication Programs

The following are a few of the benefits of mutual aid groups:

• Groups provide a holistic approach that can address complex communication problems resulting from stroke or brain injury. Groups allow an individual to deal with communication in the context of lifestyle, family and partners, environment, needs and life goals.
• Groups are an effective way of building self-esteem.
• "Group [programs] provide an opportunity to model appropriate behaviours"(Sohlberg, 1989, p.304). For example, new clients learn to greet each other and to request information using communication books, question cards and other adaptations and to seeing how others use communication strategies.
• Groups encourage the transfer of skills outside the program. Through role-playing activities within the program, clients gain the confidence to attempt these activities at home and in the their communities. Clients provide a constant source of reinforcement and challenge to each other to try new activities.

Comments from Group Participants

Adults with aphasia, facilitating volunteers, family members and staff consider the communication groups to be the core of our service.

Here is how some participants describe the benefits of meeting in groups:

• To be with others with the same problem
• To "try what's in my brain"
• To learn adaptive communication skills
• To talk to others and try to get a message across
• To keep current by discussing local, national and international events
• To be with people who take the time to listen, who wait and are patient
• To make friends