愛媛県における失語症者向け意思疎通支援事業の展開状況と見えてきた課題

Symposium:Current state of communication support programs for people with aphasia:The development of communication support projects for people with aphasia in Ehime Prefecture and the issues that have emerged

　愛媛県における失語症者向け意思疎通支援事業は，2020年度より意思疎通支援者養成事業が開始となっているが，意思疎通支援者派遣事業はいまだ開始となっていない．これまでに養成された25名の意思疎通支援者は，実際の支援の場に派遣される機会が得られていない状況である．これまで支援者養成事業を進めていくうえで，①支援者の意欲や技術の維持・向上，②支援者派遣事業の早期実現，③指導者側となる言語聴覚士の人材確保とスキルアップ，④意思疎通支援者の確保および偏在，といった課題に直面している．愛媛県において養成事業が開始となった2020年度は奇しくも新型コロナウイルス感染症の流行が始まった年でもあり，その影響は非常に大きかった．5類感染症への変更を受け，派遣事業に対するニーズが高まることや当会と行政との連携が深まっていくこと，また失語症者と社会との「つながり」が拡がっていくことを期待している．

　Ehime Prefecture's communication support project for people with aphasia began in FY2020 with the training of communication supporters, but the dispatch of communication supporters has not begun yet. The 25 communication supporters who have been trained so far have not had the opportunity to be dispatched to actual places of support. In the course of the training project, we have faced the following issues：(1) maintenance and improvement of supporters' motivation and skills, (2) early realization of the dispatch project, (3) securing human resources and improving the skills of speech-language-hearing therapists who serve as instructors, and (4) securing communication supporters and their uneven distribution. The start of the training project in Ehime Prefecture unfortunately coincided with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the project. We hope that the downgrading of COVID-19 to a Category 5 infectious disease will increase the need for dispatch services, deepen cooperation between local governments and speech-language-hearing therapists, and expand the “connection” between people with aphasia and society.